Almost one in two tested positive for Covid-19 in Klang's Teratai cluster

 

COVID-19 | Almost one in every two people tested in the Teratai cluster, centred around Top Glove's factories in Klang, is turning out to be positive with Covid-19.

This is after Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah revealed that the cluster has a positive rate of 43.8 percent.

Speaking at a press conference in Putrajaya, Noor Hisham said a total of 5,767 people in the cluster have been tested and 2,524 of them turned out to be positive with Covid-19.

Another 1,913 people are waiting for the results of their tests.

Noor Hisham said the Covid-19 patients in this cluster comprise 164 Malaysians and 2,360 non-citizens, most of whom are the glove maker's workers in Klang.

However, the virus has spread beyond the workers' circle. Those infected are as young as two-years-old. The oldest is 68 years old.

“Seventy-one cases, that is 2.8 percent, were close contacts (of the factory workers) such as families and all.

“Twelve of the cases were detected, not in the area but from close contacts,” Noor Hisham explained.

He said the local workers may not be staying at the workers’ dormitories but at their own houses, which is how family members have now been infected in the Teratai cluster.

“What happened was we carried out active close contact tracing and tightened the targeted enhanced movement control order (EMCO) at the factories and the dormitories to carry out screening for about 13,000 workers involving the factories,” he said.

The cluster first came on the authorities radar on Nov 7 and has seen a steep spike in infections recent days.

The cluster recorded 1,067 new cases today alone, with 1,060 in Selangor.

Following the spike, the National Security Council today ordered all 28 of Top Glove factories in Klang to shut down in phases.

Noor Hisham said Top Glove's management has taken measures to isolate the close contacts of infected workers.

The area of Top Glove's workers' dormitories in Meru, Klang, has been under a lockdown - the enhanced movement control order (MCO) - since Nov 17.

Noor Hisham said the lockdown involves around 5,900 people.

However, he noted that Top Glove has over 13,000 employees working at 28 factories in Klang, including those who live outside of the lockdown area.

"The Klang District Health Department is working with the management to screen all workers," Noor Hisham added. - Mkini