Sivagangga Cluster Spreads To Perlis, Penang, Believed To Be Super Spreader Strain Of Covid-19
A family member of the positive cases in Perlis was a loyal customer of the nasi kandar restaurant.
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The Sivagangga cluster has spread out from Kedah. On Friday (7 Aug), the cluster had reportedly infected another individual in Kedah, 10 individuals in Perlis and one in Penang.
What you need to know: Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said all 10 cases in Perlis were from the same family and they are all asymptomatic. Another member of the same family had also tested positive earlier in the state on 4 August and they are all being treated at Hospital Tuanku Fauziah.
The case reported in Penang is the state’s first active case in months, breaking its green zone streak. The patient’s hometown is now under a targeted enhanced movement control order.
Meanwhile, the new case in Kedah was a close contact to a previously reported case on Thursday.
This means there is a total of 31 positive Covid-19 cases in Kedah, 11 in Perlis and one in Penang, all from the PUI Sivagangga cluster.
Why it matters: Dr Noor Hisham believes the cluster might be from a super-spreader strain of Covid-19 considering its speed of transmission. This means that adhering to the standard operating procedures (SOP) set by the government is now more important than ever.
Who said what:
This means all 11 cases in Perlis stemmed from the PUI Sivagangga cluster. Investigations found that one of the family members was a loyal customer of the restaurant belonging to the Sivagangga cluster index case.
Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah via The Star
What’s next: Another 1,884 close contacts have been recently identified and will be tested in Perlis and Penang.
How it got here: The cluster began after a nasi kandar restaurant owner breached his home quarantine order to visit his shop. This resulted in several of his employees, including his son, becoming infected. They then infected others.
A total of 3,246 people from this cluster had been screened on Thursday, of which 43 have tested positive. Meanwhile, 883 are still awaiting their results and the rest have been confirmed to be negative.
Read more:
Nasi Kandar Restaurant Owner Confirmed Covid-19 Positive: Patrons Urged To Get Tested, 76 Kindergartens Shut Down (TRP)
Covid-19: 5 Kedah Schools Now Closed After Positive Nasi Kandar Shop Owner Who Broke Quarantine Sparks New Cluster (TRP)
This Is Where All Of Malaysia’s New Covid-19 Clusters Are (July 2020) (TRP)
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