KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 — A new Covid-19 cluster was detected in Semporna, Sabah on Monday, making it the fourth one in the state after the Benteng Lahad Datu, Pulau and Laut clusters.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the index case for the new Selamat cluster is case 9969, a 32-year-old Malaysian who tested positive for the virus on Sept 14 while undergoing screening at the Tawau hospital for premature labour.
“Through close contact screening and Active Case Detection, another positive case was detected involving the medical officer who treated the index case,” he said in a statement on Covid-19 developments here yesterday.
Dr Noor Hisham said to date, 118 individuals from this cluster have been screened, of which two tested positive for Covid-19 while the rest were awaiting results.
The source of infection is being investigated and transmission prevention activity is ongoing, he said.
"Disinfection and cleaning have been carried out in the identified areas,” he said.
On the Benteng LD cluster, he said two new cases were reported yesterday, bringing the total number of positive cases from this cluster to 474 cases.
To date, 7,670 individuals from this cluster in Lahad Datu and Tawau have been screened, Dr Noor Hisham added.
As for the Sungai cluster, he said six new positive cases were detected, making it 65 cases in total.
“A total of 22,317 individuals were screened from this cluster with 22,153 of them screened in Kedah, 136 in Penang and 28 more in Perlis. The total includes 1,148 health workers, of which 26 tested positive for Covid-19," he said.
Dr Noor Hisham, meanwhile, reminded the people to keep adhering to standard operating procedures (SOPs) when attending gatherings, and also while being in public places.
— Bernama
