KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 — The number of new Covid-19 cases in the country remains in three digits as 115 cases are recorded yesterday, with Sabah still topping the list with 98 cases, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
He said that the new cases reported included 112 local transmissions, involving 98 Malaysians and 14 foreigners, as well as three imported cases.
Of the local transmission cases, 11 of them had a history of travel to Sabah, he said.
“Local cases today (yesterday) involved Sabah (98 cases) and Selangor (10 cases), while Terengganu, Melaka, Kedah and Labuan had one case each, and the three imported cases involved those returning from India.
“There is a new cluster detected in Selangor, the Jalan Apas Cluster, and there are no new deaths reported today (yesterday),” he said in a statement on the development of Covid-19 here yesterday.
He said that this meant that the cumulative number of Covid-19 positive cases in Malaysia now surpassed the 11,000 mark, with 11,034 cases, while the active cases with infectivity are at 1,011 cases, with 54 have recovered, bringing the total recovered cases to 9,889.
There are eight cases being treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with five of them in need of respiratory assistance, he said.
On the Jalan Apas Cluster, Dr Noor Hisham said that the case involved a couple who had a history of travel to Tawau and Semporna, Sabah, from September 13 to 16.
“Both index cases started having fever, cough, and flu on September 18 and then sought treatment at a medical centre on September 19. They were later referred to Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital, Klang on September 24.
“Both tested positive on September 26 and were admitted to Sungai Buloh Hospital,” he explained.
He said that the results of the close contact screening found six more positive cases on September 27, and thus far a total of 66 individuals have been screened, with two more awaiting results.
Measures to prevent and control infections, such as the sanitation and disinfection processes, have been carried out at the location and the cause of the infection is still under investigation, he said.
On positive cases of active clusters, Dr Noor Hisham said there are 46 new cases reported for the Bangau-Bangau Cluster in Sabah yesterday, bringing the total number of positive cases linked to the cluster to 225.
Meanwhile, for the Benteng LD Cluster (Sabah), there are 39 new cases recorded — 34 cases in Tawau and five in Lahad Datu — bringing the total number of cases in the cluster to 873.
“There are two new cases reported for the Pulau Cluster (Sabah), bringing the total number of positive cases of this cluster to 49, while for the Buang Sayang Cluster (also Sabah) and the Sungai Cluster in Kedah, each recorded one new case,” he said.
On the administrative targeted enhanced movement control order (TEMCO) in Lahad Datu, Tawau, Kunak and Semporna districts in Sabah which will come into effect from midnight tonight, Dr Noor Hisham said that a total of 962,661 residents will be screened in the four districts.
He said that targeted screening would be carried out on the local community and high-risk groups covering five per cent of the total population.
“The Health Ministry will continue to carry out control and prevention measures in these four districts and medical bases will be opened in the TEMCO areas.
“Cooperation from the locals is very much needed to ensure that this action successfully breaks the chain of transmission of Covid-19 infection in our country,” he said.
— Bernama
