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UPDATED 7.52PM | COVID-19 | Nearly one in two people tested in the Teratai group, centered around Top Glove factories in Klang, is testing positive for Covid-19.
This is after the director general of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah, revealed that the group has a positive rate of 43.8 percent.
Speaking at a press conference in Putrajaya, Noor Hisham said that a total of 5,767 people in the group have been tested and 2,524 of them tested positive for Covid-19.
Another 1,913 people await the results of their tests.
Noor Hisham said that the Covid-19 patients in this group comprise 164 Malaysians and 2,360 non-citizens, most of whom are workers at the glove manufacturer in Klang.
However, the virus has spread beyond the circle of workers. Those infected are only two years old. The oldest is 68 years old.
“Seventy-one cases, that is 2.8 percent, were close contacts (of factory workers) like families and everything.
“Twelve of the cases were detected, not in the area but by close contacts,” explained Noor Hisham.
He said that local workers may not be staying in workers’ dormitories, but in their own homes, which is the way family members have now been infected in the Teratai group.
“What happened was that we carried out active close contact tracing and enforced the Enhanced Motion Control Order (EMCO) in factories and dormitories to carry out inspection of some 13,000 workers involving factories.” said.
The group first appeared on authorities’ radar on November 7 and has seen a sharp increase in infections in recent days.
The group recorded 1,067 new cases today alone, with 1,060 in Selangor.
Following the increase, the National Security Council today ordered Top Glove’s 28 factories in Klang to close in phases.
Noor Hisham said Top Glove management has taken steps to isolate close contacts of infected workers.
The Top Glove workers’ dormitory area in Meru, Klang, has been under lockdown, the enhanced motion control order (MCO), since November 17.
Noor Hisham said the confinement involves about 5,900 people.
However, he noted that Top Glove has more than 13,000 employees working in 28 factories in Klang, including those living outside the closing area.
“The Klang District Health Department is working with management to assess all workers,” added Noor Hisham.
