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PUTRAJAYA (THE STAR / ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – The Covid-19 situation in Malaysia is seeing signs of escalation, with an increase in infections at a prison in Kedah state adding to the recent surge in cases involving Sabah.
Health Ministry Director General Noor Hisham Abdullah, who is in quarantine after being exposed to a Covid-positive cabinet minister, has called on Malaysians to continue fighting the virus together.
“As we approach the 10-month mark of the Covid-19 pandemic, our lives and normalcy have been fundamentally disrupted,” he said in his Twitter post on Tuesday (October 6).
“Controlling large-scale community transmission is our top priority. We need strong solidarity and unity, together we can better fight this common enemy.”
The total number of new cases reported in a day surpassed the 400 mark in Malaysia for the first time on Monday (October 5) to reach 432, surpassing the record of 317 cases reported on Saturday (October 3).
Tan Sri Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah said that most of the new cases were detected in Kedah (231) and Sabah (130) on Monday.
The so-called Tembok group in Kedah, centered in the Alor Setar prison, reported a total of 224 cases.
The group has so far tallied 653 cases in recent days, with one death.
Alor Setar Prison, the capital of Kedah state, has been subjected to a specific enhanced movement control order, or Temco, for 14 days.
During Temco, all prisoners and prison staff will be monitored for exposure to Covid-19 and relatives of prisoners are prohibited from visiting them.
The increase in cases in Sabah was compounded by the election campaign two weeks before the September 26 vote for the state elections.
There is also an outbreak of the coronavirus at a detention center in Sabah that houses illegal immigrants from the Philippines and Indonesia.
The Malaysian government announced on Tuesday that travel to and from Sabah will be banned for two weeks starting on Wednesday (October 7). Only essential or emergency personnel will be allowed to travel.
The president of the Malaysian Bar Association, Salim Bashir, said Tuesday that the overcrowding in the jails could make the situation worse and called on the authorities to consider releasing those detained for less serious crimes.
“Prisoners are kept in crowded spaces, which makes physical distancing almost impossible, creating a hotbed for the transmission of the virus,” he said in a statement, quoted by the Malaysiakini news site.
“In light of the gravity of the current situation, the Malaysian Bar Association strongly calls on law enforcement authorities to consider releasing detainees for less serious crimes on bail rather than keeping them locked up,” he said.
Other Malaysian states have also seen a surge in cases, most attributed to the return of thousands of election activists from Sabah, including cabinet ministers who had continued in public service after their return, rather than going into home quarantine. .
Selangor registered 34 new local cases on Monday, Kuala Lumpur seven and Terengganu five.
Dr Noor Hisham said: “This makes a total of 235 Covid-19 cases as of September 20 related to a history of travel to Sabah.”
Dr. Noor Hisham is currently in quarantine after attending a meeting involving the de facto Minister of Religious Affairs Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri, who was confirmed to be Covid-19 positive on Monday.
Meanwhile, the number of patients in intensive care continues to increase with the increase in daily cases.
Dr Noor Hisham said 32 patients were being treated in intensive care units, compared with 28 the day before, and eight of them required ventilation.
There are no new deaths, keeping the country’s Covid-19 death toll at 137.
A total of 57 patients were discharged.
Together, the total number of cases in the country since the outbreak began in January was 12,813 on Monday.
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