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PETALING JAYA: The Ministry of Health has declared the end of five Covid-19 clusters in the country, but three more emerged in their place.
Health Director General Tan Sri Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah said the five groups that have been declared terminated were the Sofi, Tapah Prison, Kapor, Jambu and Meldrum groups, while the three new groups are Jalan Lapan in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, Batu Sembilan in Selangor and Nibong in Johor.
“The index case in the Jalan Lapan group tested positive on November 25 through examinations of symptomatic individuals. Currently, there have been 25 cases in this group.
“The index case in the Batu Sembilan group was positive on November 24, and there are now 19 cases in this group, while the index case in the Nibong group was detected on November 28.
“There are currently 10 cases in the Nibong group,” he said.
Dr. Noor Hisham also said that three other existing groups, Perigi, Bintang, and Cergas, were the biggest contributors to the 1,212 reported on Monday (Nov. 30).
“There were 153 cases from the Perigi group, while the Bintang and Cergas groups recorded 71 and 66 cases, respectively,” he said.
Meanwhile, there were 18 new cases at the Teratai cluster in Klang, which is linked to workers at Top Glove Corporation Bhd.
It remains the largest group in the third wave with 4,278 cases.
Separately, Dr. Noor Hisham also said that the idea of creating green bubbles to allow quarantined or infected workers to work in specific areas away from healthy workers was not feasible.
He said the Ministry had received proposals for it, but the experience of managing Sivagangga’s group in the second wave showed that there was always a risk of quarantined workers becoming infected after the initial test was negative.
“Learning from this experience, we cannot allow them to work while they are in quarantine. Once they are discharged after 14 days, they can return to work,” he said.
Dr Noor Hisham also said the government is expected to receive the clinical reports of the third phase of testing on one of the potential Covid-19 vaccines next week.
“We are waiting for it and once it is proven effective with minimal side effects, it can be registered with authorities such as the US Food and Drug Administration and the Malaysian National Drug Regulatory Agency,” he said.
He said the government is in negotiations with 10 companies, including Pfizer and BioNTech, for the possible Covid-19 vaccine, but did not reveal which pharmaceutical company will submit its clinical report to the government next week.
He said the government has taken proactive steps to procure vaccines in advance so as not to get caught in a bind, as happened when the country was experiencing a second wave of infections and needed crucial equipment like ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE). .
“At least now there is an agreement that allows us to reserve vaccines in advance,” he said.
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