PETALING JAYA: A huge rise in Covid-19 infections was reported at Tawau prison in Sabah today, with 76 Malaysians among 167 new cases. Kedah had 14 new cases, while a new case was reported in Kuala Lumpur, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.
The 167 new cases in Sabah are all part of the Benteng cluster.
Of the 76 Malaysians, 70 are prisoners and six are members of the public who were identified as Covid-19 positive after contact tracing.
The Benteng cluster, based around active cases in the Lahad Datu police headquarters and the Tawau prison, had been growing rapidly.
Detected on Sept 2 after seven positive cases were uncovered among 50 illegal immigrants, the Benteng cluster has nearly doubled from a total of 170 cases yesterday to 337 cases today.
Noor Hisham said at his press conference yesterday that the cluster is spreading as illegal immigrants detained during a multi-agency operation on smuggling routes had not quarantined for 14 days before they were allowed to join the general prison population.
There were no new cases detected in Lahad Datu today, where the total number of positive cases stands at 87. The total number of positive cases in Tawau is 250.
Kedah clusters
In Kedah, the Sungai cluster recorded 11 new cases today and the Telaga cluster racked up 3 new cases. There are a total of 51 cases in the Sungai cluster and 16 in the Telaga cluster.
Both clusters are believed to be linked, with infections supposedly having spread from the Sungai cluster to the Telaga cluster via healthcare workers.
The Kota Setar area, where the two clusters are located, is under lockdown, as with the Tawau prison.
The Tawau lockdown started today and will only affect the prisoners, prison staff and their family members who live in the prison area.
“So far the implementation (of the EMCO) is running smoothly and the local communities are cooperating very well,” said Noor Hisham. - FMT
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