KUALA LUMPUR, 4 Oct 2020:
A total of 293 new Covid-19 positive cases were recorded over the past 24 hours, a slight drop compared to the highest daily tally of 317 yesterday, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
Also read: MoH expecting Covid-19 cases to surge further in next 2 weeks
He said 292 of the cases were local transmissions while the one imported case involved a foreigner travelling from Bangladesh, taking the cumulative total of positive cases to 12,381.
“Of the 292 local transmissions, 269 involved Malaysians and 23 foreigners. Of the 292 cases also, 30 were travellers returning from Sabah, bringing the number of cases with a travel history to the state since Sept 20 to 206,” he said at a press conference on Covid-19 updates today.
Dr Noor Hisham said there are currently 28 patients being treated in the intensive care unit, with four needing ventilator support.
In detailing the breakdown of the cases today, he said Sabah continued to record the most number of cases, with 126. Among them being 12 Malaysians and one foreigner from the Bangau-Bangau Cluster, two Malaysians and 12 foreigners from the Benteng LD Cluster as well as four Malaysians from the new Kau Sing Cluster.
Kedah had the second-highest number of cases, with 113, of which 112 involved Malaysians from the Tembok Cluster and one Malaysian from the Bah Rose Cluster.
“Selangor, meanwhile, recorded 31 cases, with 13 detected through screening of returnees from a high-risk area (Sabah), 13 from the Jalan Meru Cluster, three from the Embun Cluster and two close contact screening.”
Johor had eight cases, with six being returnees from Sabah (all Malaysians), one foreigner who underwent screening prior to deportation and one foreigner who underwent pre-employment screening.
In Labuan, five cases (all Malaysians) were detected through the screening of returnees from Sabah while Penang, Kelantan and Sarawak recorded one case each.
He said the Health Ministry (MoH) today detected two new Covid-19 clusters – namely the Kau Sing Cluster in Tawau, Sabah and the Embun Cluster in Hulu Langat, Selangor.
Dr Noor Hisham said the index case for the Kau Sing Cluster was the 10,755 case involving a 29-year-old Malaysian who tested positive for Covid-19 through a symptomatic screening on Sept 25.
“Following that, close contact screening was conducted and six more positive Covid-19 cases have been identified. Of the seven positive cases detected, five individuals were Malaysians, while the other two were non-citizens. All of them have been admitted to Tawau Hospital, Sabah.”
Meanwhile, for the Embun Cluster in Hulu Langat, Dr Noor Hisham said five individuals tested positive for Covid-19 and all were Malaysian citizens.
“The index case for the Embun Cluster was the 11,147 case involving a 41-year-old Malaysian man who tested positive through a symptomatic screening on Sept 29.
“Following that, close contact screening was conducted and four more positive cases were identified. All of them have been admitted to Sungai Buloh Hospital.”
The cause of infection for both clusters are still under investigation, Dr Noor Hisham added.
Meanwhile, individuals from Labuan, Sarawak and peninsula Malaysia must apply to the Sabah government for a special pass if they want to enter the state during the inter-district travel control.
The Internal Affairs and Research Office in the Chief Minister’s Department, in a statement today, said applications could be made on the website of the office at https://hednp.sabah.gov.my.
‘’However, exemptions are given to citizens who are from Sabah, holders of passes issued by the Sabah Immigrations Department who are in the peninsula, Sarawak, Labuan and couples conducting essential services.”
On Thursday (Oct 1), Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that the government would implement the inter-district control for Sabah from yesterday (Oct 3) to Oct 16.
– Bernama