The number of Covid-19 positive cases today returned to double digits with 16 new cases.
Twelve of the new cases were domestic transmissions, all involving Malaysians while the remaining four cases were imported and involved foreigners, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah announced this afternoon.
“Of the import cases, three are from Bangladesh and detected in KL, and one from the Philippines and detected in Labuan,” he said in his daily briefing of the Covid-19 situation in the country.
Of the domestic transmissions, four were new cases in the Tawar cluster detected in Kedah and another four more in Penang, also linked to the same cluster.
Three other domestic transmissions were new cases in the Sala cluster and the last new case was in Johor from a ship sign-on, Dr Noor Hisham said.
With today’s cases, Malaysia’s total positive cases stand at 9,235, of which 185 is currently active.
Dr Noor Hisham also said 23 people were discharged today, putting the total number of recoveries to date at 8,925 cases or 96.6 per cent of all cases.
At present, seven patients are in intensive care with three needing breathing assistance.
No deaths were reported today, leaving the total number of fatalities at 125 cases, or 1.35 of all total cases.
Commenting on the development of the Tawar Cluster, Dr Noor Hisham said eight new cases were reported today involving four cases in Kedah and four in Penang.
He said this brought the number of positive cases in this cluster to 55, and that as of today 1,910 people had been screened in this cluster.
He explained that in Kedah, 1,560 individuals were screened, 44 individuals tested positive, 1,173 tested negative while 343 individuals were still waiting for the results.
In the meantime, in Penang 341 people were screened, 11 tested positive, 316 tested negative and 14 individuals are still awaiting results. While in Perak, all nine individuals screened tested negative (last screening on Aug 17, 2020).
As for the Sala Cluster, three new cases were reported in Kedah bringing the total number of positive cases to 11.
“Some 668 people had been screened until noon today, with 662 individuals in Kedah and the remaining six in Penang in this cluster,” he said.
In Kedah, 11 cases were detected positive, 494 tested negative and 157 individuals were still awaiting results. In Penang, the six individuals screened all tested negative, he added.
Active Case Detection and close contact screening for both clusters are still ongoing. The current situation will be informed from time to time,” he said.
Dr Noor Hisham also advised Muslims who will celebrate Awal Muharam and Maal Hijrah tomorrow, to avoid mass gatherings in conjunction with the festive day.
“This includes inter-state travel as well as plans to hold recreational activities with the family,” he said.
He also reiterated that the public should always adhere to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) while adopting to the new norms and habits in all activities to be carried out