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COVID-19 | Malaysia recorded 111 new Covid-19 cases in the 24 hours to noon today, most of which were attributed to the Bangau-Bangau group in Semporna, Sabah.
The director general of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah, said that of the 111 cases, four were imported, while the remaining 107 were transmitted locally.
Sabah accounted for the majority of local cases with 97 reported, 74 of which were from the Bangau-Bangau group.
This brings the total number of cases in this group to 134 out of 180 people tested. Nine are still awaiting the results of their tests.
This means that more than three-quarters of all tests in this group have been positive.
When contacted, Noor Hisham said Malaysiakini that the new cases were detected among close contacts.
“The virus is already in the community and the villages,” he added.
The group was detected during the pre-admission evaluation at Semporna Hospital on September 22, which found five cases that day. Eight more were detected on September 28, plus two others who previously tested positive but were not identified as part of the group at first.
Yesterday 47 new cases were detected, all from the same village as the previous cases.
Meanwhile, Benteng’s LD group focused on Tawau and Lahad Datu recorded 13 new cases, bringing the group’s total number of cases to 743.
Noor Hisham said that 10,634 people have been tested in this group and 833 of them are still awaiting their results.
Two of the new Benteng LD cases were detected in the Kinabatangan district, which was still classified as a green zone as of yesterday, but will now be considered a yellow zone.
Laut’s group in Kunak has two new infections, bringing the total to 24 cases.
In this conglomerate, 533 people have been tested so far, of which 156 are still pending results.
There were also eight cases in Sabah today that have not been linked to a group:
- Two cases detected when referred to the hospital for screening.
- Two cases found during the evaluation in the workplace.
- Two cases detected during the screening of patients with symptoms.
- A case found during the screening of patients with severe acute respiratory infection at Tawau Hospital.
- A case detected in an international entry.
In Kedah, seven new transmissions were reported from the Sungai group, and another case was found during an evaluation of patients with severe acute respiratory infection at Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital, Alor Setar.
Pahang and Selangor reported one case each when patients began reporting symptoms after traveling to Sabah.
The Pahang case had traveled to Semporna, while the Selangor case had traveled to Kota Kinabalu.
Regarding imported cases, a new but isolated group was identified in Johor involving a ship docked in Pasir Gudang port.
Noor Hisham said that the Orkim group’s index case (Case 10572) is an Indonesian national who boarded the ship in Singapore on September 10.
He began showing symptoms of fever, cough, shortness of breath, diarrhea and vomiting on September 13, but did not report this to his employer. He was fired on September 17, but only sought medical treatment on September 22.
He was then referred to Permai Hospital, Johor for treatment, where he tested positive on September 23, and was later transferred to Enche ‘Besar Hajjah Khalsom Hospital.
After this, the examination of other members of the crew identified another case who is also an Indonesian citizen.
So far, 30 people have been examined, of which four are still awaiting results.
As for the other three imported cases, two originated in Indonesia, including an undocumented migrant.
Another case originated in India.
30 recoveries were also reported today and patients have been discharged, leaving 858 confirmed cases still active in the country.
Four of them are being treated in intensive care units, including three who need respiratory assistance.
The death toll remains unchanged in 133 cases.
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