Malaysia’s new Covid-19 cases drop to 489, but active cases breach 3,000 mark for first time

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 7): Malaysia’s new Covid-19 cases dropped to 489 today, from 691 reported yesterday, bringing cumulative cases in the country to 13,993.

Two of the 489 new cases were imported, involving a Malaysian and a foreigner who just returned from India and the Maldives, while the rest were locally transmitted, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Of these cases, Sabah topped the list with the highest number of confirmed infections today at 282 cases, followed by Kedah (153), Selangor (19) and Penang (seven).

Other states which also recorded new cases as of noon today include Johor with six cases, Perak (four), Terengganu (four), Kuala Lumpur (three), Sarawak (three), Pahang (two), Putrajaya (two), Negeri Sembilan (one), and Kelantan (one).

Some 139 cases came from the Tembok cluster in Alor Setar prison and Pokok Sena, Kedah — the biggest cluster in the country — representing 28.4% of total cases, said MoH director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

According to his statement, 15 cases came from those who had travelled to Sabah, bringing the total number of cases among those returning from the state since Sept 20 to 283.

In contrast, active cases breached the 3,000-mark for the first time, reaching 3,351 — the worst level since the pandemic started in early January. This leaves 40 Covid-19 patients in intensive care unit including 13 who are on ventilator support.

Daily recoveries fell to 74, which means the overall number of patients who have fully recovered stood at 10,501 or 75% of the cumulative confirmed Covid-19 cases.

Meanwhile, no new deaths were reported to the Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC). The death toll stood at 141 or 1.01% of the cumulative cases.

Two new Covid-19 clusters detected with 12 confirmed infections

The ministry also reported two new Covid-19 clusters named Bah Puchong and Reman Prison with 12 confirmed infections.

The Bah Puchong cluster was identified in Petaling, Selangor, and four areas in Perak — Larut, Matang, Selama and Kinta.

Noor Hisham said the index cases for this cluster (cases no. 13,061, 13,065 and 13,069) have tested positive for Covid-19 on Oct 5. They were among the returnees from Sabah and have been admitted to the Sungai Buloh Hospital.

Up until noon today, five positive cases were detected in the cluster from 39 individuals who went for screening. Three cases were found in Selangor, while two cases were found in Perak.

As for the Reman Prison cluster in Penang, seven positive cases were detected so far, while 78 were negative and the remaining 201 are waiting for their results.

The index case (case no. 13,499) refers to the 141th fatality reported by the ministry yesterday.

Noor Hisham said the causes of infections in these two new clusters are still under investigation.

Other than these two new clusters and the Tembok cluster, the Bah Sintok cluster recorded 14 new cases, the Jalan Meru cluster has four new cases, the Laut cluster (two), the Benteng PK cluster (two), the Selasih cluster (two), the Bah Tanjung cluster (one), and the Embun cluster (one).

For the period of Sept 27 to Oct 7, a total of 27 clusters were reported by the ministry.

Earlier today, Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that four more districts will be placed under Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) due to a spike in Covid-19 cases over there.

The CMCO will be imposed for two weeks starting Oct 9 in Sandakan, Papar and Tuaran in Sabah as well as Klang in Selangor. 

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