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This Is Where All Of Malaysia’s New Covid-19 Clusters Are (July 2020)

This Is Where All Of Malaysia’s New Covid-19 Clusters Are (July 2020)

After predicting zero cases mid-July, the nation is hit by a whopping 13 new clusters in the span of three weeks.

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After the triumph of bringing down local Covid-19 infections along with the end of the nation’s biggest clusters in June, a new wave of clusters began popping up day by day in July.

This is especially worrying as the new outbreaks come shortly after the Health Ministry predicted zero new Covid-19 cases come mid-July.

With Sarawak recently declaring a second wave in the state and the return of double digit new Covid-19 cases, we’ve compiled a list of all the new clusters that have popped up in Malaysia this July.

Kuching Engineering Cluster – Kuching, Sarawak [12 July]

The new cluster involving an engineering firm in Kuching was declared on 12 July with two confirmed cases.

The index case of this cluster (Case 8694) was an employee at the company who sought treatment at a medical centre on 9 July when he experienced breathing difficulties and tested positive on the same day.

Screening of 32 close contacts revealed another positive case and the cause of this infection is still under investigation

PUI Novgorod Cluster-  Alor Gajah, Malacca & Sepang, Selangor [13 July]

Credit: Malay Mail

Confirmed on 13 July, this cluster began with a Malayisan student (Case 8673) who returned from Russia on 5 July and tested positive upon entry at the airport.

Shortly after, a friend and fellow student (Case 8718), who had boarded the same flight from Russia began showing symptoms of fever and breathing difficulties on 7 July despite testing negative.

However, a second test came back positive for Covid-19.

The second patient’s father then began displaying similar symptoms and tested positive for the virus as well.

Health Director General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah revealed that four family members had picked up Case 8718 from the airport and advised to limit the number of people picking up returnees.

As of 20 July, the cluster consisted of 6 positive cases and active tracing of close contacts is currently underway.

PUI Novgorod as of 20th July 2020.
(Credit: @KKMPutrajaya/Twitter)

Mambong Cluster – Samarahan & Kuching Sarawak [16 July]

A new cluster was announced on 16 July, involving a company in Mambong, Sarawak.

The index case (Case 8732)  is a foreign national who works as a project engineer at a local company in Kuching and developed symptoms on 12 July.

Covid-19 testing at a private hospital came back positive on 14 July.

A local man living in Kota Samarahan who worked as an engineer at the same company also tested positive for the coronavirus on 14 July.

Covid-19 swab test.
(Credit: Health Ministry via kpkesihatan.com)

The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) classified it as local transmission as the patients did not have a history of visiting or returning from abroad.

As of 18 July, there are a total of five infected individuals in the Mambong Cluster.

PUI Pitakwa Cluster – Terengganu [17 July]

The index case is a Malaysian (Case 8737) who returned from Nigeria on 11 July.

Although the patient tested negative after Covid-19 screening at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) upon arrival, a repeat test was ordered three days later as he began to experience severe symptoms.

Credit: Malay Mail/Miera Zulyana

The second Covid-19 test came back positive and the patient was admitted to Hospital Hulu Terengganu.

Following that, close contacts including family members, colleagues, taxi drivers, aircraft crew and passengers were identified and screened for the virus.

PUI Shirala Cluster – Selangor [17 July]

This cluster began with a non-Malaysian professional (Case 8730) who arrived in the country on 6 July for work.

He had tested negative for two Covid-19 tests in India and at KLIA.

Five days after his arrival in Malaysia, he had to repeat Covid-19 testing after experiencing symptoms and the results came back positive. He was admitted to Hospital Sungai Buloh Hospital.

His wife and child later tested positive for the virus as well.

Kuching Medical Centre Cluster – Kuching, Sarawak [17 July]

Credit: Hari Anggara/Malay Mail

The index case of Kuching medical centre cluster is Case 8734, an asymptomatic medical frontliner who tested positive on 14 July. 

A new case was then reported on 17 July – a healthcare worker and colleague of the first patient. The new case did not show symptoms and was admitted to Sarawak General Hospital.

This cluster comprises two cases so far, with the source of infection still under investigation.

Though not part of this cluster, another healthcare worker in Kuching was found positive after showing mild signs and symptoms from 13 July.

She went in for testing at Borneo Medical Centre as she wanted to travel to Penang and the results came back positive on 18 July.

Contact tracing of the case is underway and investigation is ongoing.

Jupiter Cluster – Bintulu, Sarawak [17 July]

Crew members of the LNG Jupiter ship have tested positive for Covid-19.
(Credit: xelote/marinetraffic.com)

Index case of the Jupiter cluster is a non-Malaysian crew member of the LNG Jupiter cruise ship with travel history to Japan and Singapore.

Case 8723 began showing symptoms on 3 July and his condition deteriorated on 11 July when the cruise ship was in Sarawak waters.

The patient was then taken to a medical centre and tested positive for Covid-19, and transferred to Hospital Bintulu for treatment.

Screening of close contacts showed two more positive cases (Case 8747 and Case 8748).

However, the Health Ministry has determined that this is an isolated imported cluster with no exposure to the surrounding community. The ship’s crew members are also not allowed to disembark.

MOH assures cases that require treatment will be immediately taken to medical centres and hospitals.

Stutong Cluster- Kuching, Sarawak [18 July]

Officially dubbed the ‘Stutong cluster’, MOH said that two new positive cases were detected as of 18 July,  originating from an outbreak at the Stutong Community Market.

Over 200 local and foreign nationals working at the market have been screened while the market has been shut down temporarily for disinfection.

Disinfection and sanitation works previously carried out at the Stutong Community Market by the Fire and Rescue Department on 11 July.
(Credit: Council of the City of Kuching South – MBKS/Facebook)

KL Restaurant Cluster – Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur [19 July]

The Kuala Lumpur restaurant cluster was detected at a Brickfields eatery following a random screening by the District Health Office.

On 19 July, the Health Ministry confirmed the cluster as two Indian nationals have tested positive for the virus.

250 restaurant staff and 236 customers have been successfully screened, with no other cases identified besides the two.

Earlier on 10 July, a popular eatery at Brickfields confirmed on Facebook that one of their staff tested positive for Covid-19. The restaurant is currently closed and all staff under quarantine pending further instructions from the Health Ministry.

Sepang Rumah Kongsi Cluster – Sepang, Selangor [19 July]

The cluster was detected at a Sepang construction site and involved mostly foreign nationals.

The Health Ministry announced the cluster on 19 July with the index case being an Indonesian worker, followed by a Bangladeshi who is a close contact.

The source of the infections is still being investigated.

Kuching Jetty Cluster – Kuching, Sarawak [19 July]

Astro Awani reports that the cluster involves a fishing vessel jetty at Pending, Kuching.

The Kuching Jetty cluster in Sarawak involves two Indonesians as the index case and close contact.

The index case was confirmed positive for the virus on 13 July while the close contact tested positive on 18 July.

Fishermen have been tested and authorities were still investigating the initial source of the outbreak.

Old Folks Home Cluster – Kluang, Johor [20 July]

The cluster was identified following the death of a senior citizen at the emergency department of Hospital Enche’ Besar Hajjah Khalsom, Johor on 17 July.

The 72-year old Malaysian male (Case 8770) was a resident of an old folks home in Kluang, Johor with a history of chronic high blood pressure and stroke.

He developed a fever and cough on 10 July but was only confirmed Covid-19 positive after his death.

Active case detection of his close contacts revealed 14 positive infections involving 11 other elderly residents of the home, one employee and one family member of a resident.

The Health Ministry is currently investigating the source of the Covid-19 infection.

Sentosa Cluster – Kuching, Sarawak [21 July]

The index case (Case 8773) is a healthcare staff at Sentosa Hospital in Kuching who tested positive for the virus on 19 July.

Following screening of close contacts, 5 Covid-19 positives were identified on 21 July – who are healthcare staff at the hospital and one hospital cleaner.

Following the emergence of 21 Covid-19 positive cases traced from the Hospital Sentosa cluster, the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) ordered the hospital closed on 26 July and all staff ordered to undergo Covid-19 screening.

PUI Melbourne Cluster – Kuching, Sarawak [22 July]

The index case of this cluster is a Malaysian student (Case 8749) who returned on 15 July from Melbourne, Australia.

The student had come back via two flights, first from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur and then from KL to Kuching, and immediately brought to the quarantine centre and screened for Covid-19.

Though asymptomatic, the test result came back positive on 17 July and the student was admitted to Sarawak General Hospital.

Following that, active case detection was carried out and a fellow passenger on the flight to Kuching also tested positive for the coronavirus.

Close contacts including flight and public transportation passengers are being tested while the Health Ministry is still investigating source of the infection.

Hyde Park Cluster – Port Klang, Selangor [22 July]

Credit: Fung Weng Cheong/Malay Mail

This cluster originated from a ship in Port Klang, where it was identified following screening of the crew members before they could return to their countries.

The index case is a Russian national (Case 8769) with a travel history to Egypt and India.

Currently, the cluster comprises of four non-Malaysian crew members who are being treated at Sungai Buloh Hospital while their close contacts are quarantined on the ship which has been disinfected.

The Health Ministry has also identified this as an isolated cluster contained to the ship with no risk of community infection.

Elsa Cluster – Kuantan, Pahang [24 July]

This cluster was identified from a shipping crew member (Case 8839) with air travel history from The Philippines and transit in Korea who had entered Malaysia on 16 July for work.

After landing in Malaysia, the patient boarded a flight to Kuantan and spent the night in a hotel there. The next day, the patient headed to the ship for onboard quarantine as approved by the Malaysian Marine Department.

The patient had tested negative on the pre-departure Covid-19 screening in the Philippines.

However, the patient began developing symptoms five days after arrival and subsequently tested positive for Covid-19 on 22 July.

Contact tracing and screening are currently underway while the patient is recovering in Hospital Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah, Pahang.

Initial screening revealed three positive cases in this cluster.

PUI Ramnad Cluster – Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur & Putrajaya [24 July]

This cluster involves a Malaysian (Case 8817) who had returned from Ramanathapuram (aka Ramdad), India on 6 July and tested negative during the Covid-19 screening at KLIA upon landing.

The patient then underwent home quarantine but began developing symptoms on 19 July.

The second Covid-19 screening on the 13th day of quarantine came back positive and the patient was admitted to Sungai Buloh Hospital.

Contact racing and testing revealed infections among family members and fellow passengers on the flight from India to Kuala Lumpur.

PUI Al Khobar Cluster – Petaling, Selangor [24 July]

The index case for the PUI Al Khobar Cluster is a Malaysian (Case 8803) who returned from Saudi Arabia. On 10 July, and also tested negative for the virus upon arrival at KLIA.

The patient was placed under home quarantine together with five family members, who had returned together from Saudi Arabia. There were also two other family members residing in the same house.

The patient started displaying symptoms on 18 July and tested positive for the virus two days later.

Covid-19 screening conducted on the 7 family members of the patient in the house revealed one of them to be positive, while the rest tested negative.

Bukit Tiram Cluster – Bukit Tiram, Johor [25 July]

This cluster was identified after two positive Covid-19 cases were reported from a religious centre in Taman Bukit Tiram involving foreign nationals who work there (Case 8868 and Case 8869).

Both patients began developing symptoms on 15 July but did not get immediate medical attention. They then underwent Covid-19 screening and tested positive on 24 July.

Active case detection is currently underway and the Health Ministry is investigating the source of the infection.

At least 9 Covid-19 positive patients have emerged from this cluster.

Kuching Construction Company Cluster – Kuching, Sarawak [25 July]

The first case in this cluster was detected on 11 July (Case 8715) from a construction site worker in Kuching.

Initial Covid-19 screening of the patient’s close contacts, including housemates and workmate, came back negative.

However, repeat testing on the patient’s close contact revealed another positive patient (Case 8715).

The Health Ministry states that they are still investigating the source of the infection while active case detection is ongoing.

PUI Sivagangga Cluster – Kubang Pasu, Kedah [28 July]

The index case in this cluster involves a Permanent Resident (Case 8937) who returned to Malaysia from Sivagangga, India on 13 July and tested negative at the KLIA Covid-19 screening.

Though ordered to undergo mandatory self-quarantine at home (Home Surveillance Order) to visit his eatery, the patient did not follow the orders.
Follow up testing came back positive for the virus and the patient was admitted to Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah, Kedah.

The index patient also owns an eatery and infected at least four employees who live together with Case 8937. A family member of the patient was also infected.
The eatery has been closed for sanitation and disinfection while the authorities will take action.

Satok Cluster – Kuching, Sarawak [28 July]

This cluster was identified at a market in Satok, Kuching where Covid-19 screening was carried out on traders.

From the screening, at least four traders tested positive – though asymptomatic – for the virus and admitted to Sarawak General Hospital.

Sanitation and disinfection of the marketplace is carried out, including business premises and facilities.


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