Covid-19 (Nov 17): 1,210 new cases, mainly in Klang Valley and Sabah

 

COVID-19 | The Health Ministry reported 1,210 new Covid-19 cases and five deaths as of noon today. 

The majority of new cases were reported in the Klang Valley region (42.8 percent) followed by Sabah (41.2 percent).

According to Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, most of the new cases reported in the Klang Valley were from the Tapak Bina Damanlela cluster (206 cases) and the Teratai cluster (131 cases). New cases in both clusters only involved foreigners.

The Tapak Bina Damanlela cluster involved a construction site in Kuala Lumpur while the Teratai cluster is related to a glove factory in Kapar, Selangor.

Additionally, data from the Selangor Health Department reported that 29 cases in the Klang district were a result of workplace screenings involving several clusters. In the Kuala Langat district, 28 transmissions, all attributed to the Jernih cluster, were detected through workplace screenings. 

The bulk of the new cases in Sabah involved the Sandakan jail cluster (122 new cases) and a new cluster known as Avenue (106 cases). The Avenue cluster involved a construction site in the Penampang district.

Leading indicators:

• Active cases - 12,788 ↑ (new record, 187 more than the previous day)

• Patients in intensive care - 105 ↑ (1 more than the previous day)

• Intubated patients - 40 ↑ (1 more than the previous day)

• Deaths - 5

The five deaths were all reported in Sabah. The cumulative Covid-19 death toll for Sabah has reached 180, or 56.6 percent of the national total (318).

Three of the victims today were Malaysian citizens and two were foreigners. The youngest victim was a 25-year-old male foreigner.

From the case numbers assigned to the three victims, they were likely to have been diagnosed yesterday or the day before.

Of the 1,210 new cases reported today, 19 were imported, involving five Malaysians and 14 foreigners.

A breakdown of the locally-transmitted cases today is as follows:

Sabah (499 cases)

• Existing clusters: 180
• New clusters (Avenue and Kejora): 112
• Close contact: 117
• Other screenings: 90

Selangor (259 cases)

• Existing clusters: 208
• Close contact: 12
• Other screenings: 39

Kuala Lumpur (238 cases)

• Existing clusters: 208
• New cluster (Kasah): 19
• Close contact: 2
• Other screenings: 9

Negeri Sembilan (67 cases)

• Existing clusters: 56
• Close contact: 8
• Other screenings: 3

Perak (47 cases)

• Existing clusters: 41
• Close contact: 5
• Other screenings: 1

Penang (33 cases)

• Existing cluster: 27
• New cluster (Summer): 3
• Close contact: 1
• Patients with symptoms: 2

Kelantan (19 cases)

• Existing cluster: 6
• New cluster (Mengketil): 12
• Patient with symptoms: 1

Johor (14 cases)

• Existing clusters: 4
• Close contact: 10

Kedah (8 cases)

• Existing clusters: 7
• Close contact: 1

Malacca (2 cases)

• Existing cluster: 1
• Other screenings: 1

Putrajaya (2 cases)

• Close contact: 2

Labuan (1 case)

• Patient with symptoms: 1

Sarawak (1 case)

• Close contact: 1

Terengganu (1 case)

• Other screenings: 1

Noor Hisham did not hold a press briefing today and instead communicated the latest Covid-19 data through a statement at 6.30pm. 

The Health Ministry classified five new clusters today. The largest number of new cases was found in the Avenue cluster in the Penampang district of Sabah.

The index case, the supervisor of a construction site, reported symptoms on Nov 8. So far, 110 cases have been attributed to the cluster.

The Kejora cluster involved the Kota Kinabalu district in Sabah. The index case reported symptoms on Nov 9. Nine cases have been attributed to this cluster while 62 more test results are pending.

The Kasah cluster involved the Kepong district in Kuala Lumpur. This cluster was identified from targeted screening of foreign security guards on Nov 17. 19 cases were attributed to this cluster while 51 test results are pending.

The Summer cluster involved the Northeast district of Penang. The index case reported symptoms on Nov 10. Eleven cases have been attributed to this cluster.

The Mengketil cluster involved the districts of Kota Bharu, Machang and Tanah Merah in Kelantan, as well as the Besut district in Terengganu.

The index case (Patient 45,094) was diagnosed with severe acute respiratory infection on Nov 13. So far, 24 cases have been attributed to this cluster.

 - Mkini