Malaysia Now Has 4 New Covid-19 Clusters
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The Health Ministry revealed today, 17th July, that four new Covid-19 clusters have emerged along with 18 new cases.
The new Covid-19 clusters that have been identified are as follows:
PUI Pitakwa Cluster
(Credit: Malay Mail/Miera Zulyan)
The index case is a Malaysian (Case 8737) who returned from Nigeria on 11th 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.
The second Covid-19 test turned out to be positive and he was subsequently admitted to Hospital Hulu Terengganu.
Following that, 44 of his close contacts including family members, colleagues, taxi drivers, aircraft crew and passengers were identified and screened for the virus.
Testing revealed that two positive Covid-19 patients (Case 8754 and Case 8755) and three negative results. The ministry is still awaiting the results for 39 of the close contacts.
PUI Shirala Cluster
The index case of this cluster is a non-Malaysian professional (Case 8730) who arrived in the country on 6th 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.
To date, two close contacts have been identified where one was positive (Case 8738) and another was negative.
Kuching Medical Centre Cluster
The index case is a Malaysian frontline health worker (Case 8734) who had undergone Covid-19 testing due to his high risk.
Although the frontliner showed no symptoms, this person still tested positive on 14th July and was admitted to the Sarawak General Hospital.
Jupiter Cluster
The first detected case in this cluster is a non-Malaysian (Case 8723) who was a crew member of the LNG Jupiter cruise ship with travel history to Japan and Singapore.
He began experiencing symptoms on 3rd July, which worsened a few days later while in Sarawakkian waters.
He was admitted to a medical centre and Covid-19 testing came back positive. He was then transferred to Hospital Bintulu.
Following that, 29 close contacts were identified inside the ship and two Covid-19 tests came back positive (Case 8747 and Case 8748) while 27 came back negative.
The Health Ministry has determined that this is an isolated imported cluster with no exposure to the surrounding community.
However, cases that require treatment will be immediately taken to medical centres and hospitals.
Further screening and investigation are underway for these four clusters and the Health Ministry assures that the latest information will be given out from time to time.
As of 17th July, 18 new Covid-19 cases have also been reported, bringing the national total to 8755 cases. Of these new cases, 10 are imported cases while 8 are local transmissions in Sarawak, Terengganu, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.
The Health Ministry has advised Malaysians to remain vigilant against Covid-19 and adhere to the health standard operating procedures (SOP) in place at all times.
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