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PUTRAJAYA: The Covid-19 group from Benteng Lahad Datu (LD) in Sabah spread its wings to the Tawau prison, some 150 kilometers away, with seven cases linked to the group.
Chief Health Officer Tan Sri Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah (Photo) said a prison inmate who tested positive for the virus on Tuesday was found to have close ties to cases from Benteng’s LD group.
“He (Patient 9,351) has a record of being at Lahad Datu Police Headquarters for a case mention.
“There, he had close contact with the two index cases (Patient 9,344 and Patient 9,345) in this group,” he said in a statement, adding that Patient 9,351 is a 43-year-old Malaysian.
Dr. Noor Hisham said the ministry was able to track six more cases in the prison, which were among the 14 new cases from the country that were reported yesterday.
“Four of these cases also had a history of travel to the Lahad Datu police headquarters and all had close contacts with the index cases.
“They returned to the prison on August 28 and infected two more inmates.
“They were all asymptomatic and were admitted to Tawau Hospital,” he said.
Dr Noor Hisham said the six, aged 17 to 49, were made up of four men from the Philippines and two from Malaysia.
Benteng’s LD group was announced on Tuesday, where seven positive cases were detected following an evaluation of inmates at the Lahad Datu police headquarters.
Six undocumented immigrants, four from the Philippines and two from Indonesia, as well as one Malaysian, were among the cases and all had been admitted to Lahad Datu Hospital.
Currently, there are 14 cases related to the cluster.
Dr. Noor Hisham added that so far, 336 people had been tested in the group.
This included 121 detainees, 83 members of prison staff, 68 detainees’ relatives and staff, 61 police officers, and three government officials.
He said 123 people tested negative while the results of another 199 were still pending.
In addition to Benteng’s LD group, three other groups also reported new cases: Tawar (three cases), Bunga (two), and Telaga (one).
Two cases were detected in the Tawar group of the Enhanced Motion Control (MCO) order currently being enforced in Amanjaya, Kedah.
The group now has 78 cases, distributed in both Kedah and Penang.
The Bunga cluster currently has six cases of which two were found in Negri Sembilan and four in Selangor.
The group is linked to the crew of a ship in Port Dickson aboard a ship that has traveled to a port in Singapore.
The total number of cases in the country since the outbreak began has risen to 9,374, while active cases now number 163 cases.
There was no new death while four more patients had been discharged.
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