Health DG says situation worrying as another 15 Covid-19 cases recorded

CORONAVIRUS | Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham said recent developments in the Covid-19 trends in Malaysia are worrying as the country recorded another 15 new infections today.

The number of active cases was reduced to a low of 63 on July 9 but the progress appeared to have lost ground as the number of active cases has now increased to 130, Noor Hisham said at a press briefing in Putrajaya today.

He said the 15 new cases recorded comprised four imported infections and 11 local transmissions.

The imported cases were made up of three Malaysians and one non-citizen returning from the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom and Indonesia.

As for the local transmissions, all but one involved Malaysians.

The bulk of the local transmissions were due to yet another new cluster emerging at a hospital in Kuching, Sarawak, referred to as the "Sentosa cluster".

Noor Hisham said the Sentosa cluster contributed to five of today's cases. 

There was one new case from the Kuching medical centre cluster, one from the Stutong cluster and another involving a caregiver who got self-tested.

The sole foreigner was also discovered in Sarawak, at the Semuja immigration detention depot.

The remaining cases are from a severe acute respiratory infection (Sari) screening in Selangor and another from an influenza-like illness (ILI) screening in Sabah.

They have been admitted to the Ampang Hospital and Tawau Hospital respectively.

The new infections put cumulative cases at 8,815, of which 8,562 have recovered.

Of the 130 patients still under treatment, four are in the intensive care unit of which one needs a ventilator to breathe.

No new fatalities were reported, maintaining the death toll at 123 casualties.

A total of 5,121 Covid-19 swab tests were conducted yesterday, according to Health Ministry data.

13 new clusters in 10 days

Elaborating on the Sentosa cluster, Noor Hisham said it was first discovered when a health worker (Patient 8,773) began experiencing respiratory symptoms on July 13 and was tested positive for Covid-19 on July 19.

He said 61 people have been tested and to date, six have been found positive involving five healthcare workers and one cleaner.

Noor Hisham warned that people were getting careless and not complying with the standard operating procedure against Covid-19.

"The recent Covid-19 situation is worrying as the number of reported daily cases continued to increase, particularly for local transmissions.

"Before this, the number of active cases had gone down to 63 on July 9 but it began to increase and exceeded 100 on July 19 and is now at 130," he said.

There are presently 19 active clusters, of which 13 were recorded in just the last 10 days, he added. 

Noor Hisham welcomed the government's decision to abandon home quarantine and reimpose specialised isolation stations for people entering the country from abroad.

He pointed out that at least three clusters in the country started from imported cases.

The top Health official advised Malaysians to continue taking precautions and protect their elderly family members.

He also encouraged Malaysians to wear a face mask in public.

 - Mkini