Covid-19 (Dec 18): 1,683 new cases, 280 medical personnel being treated

 

COVID-19 | The Health Ministry today reported 1,683 new Covid-19 cases and no new deaths. 

Today is the first time no new deaths have been reported since Dec 4. The national cumulative Covid-19 death toll is 432.

However, the Health Ministry revealed that 280 medical personnel are being treated for Covid-19 while 1,697 have been issued home surveillance orders. 

Leading indicators:

• Active cases: 15,140 ↑ (475 more than the previous day, new record)
• Patients in ICU:  106 (unchanged)
• Intubated patients: 51 ↓ (two less than previous day)
• Deaths: 0

[For 14-day cumulative new cases count at mukim (locality) level, click here. For details of new cases by clusters, click here. There may be delays to updates by the respective state health departments.]

The Klang Valley reported the highest number of cases (53.2 percent) followed by Sabah (15.4 percent) and Negeri Sembilan (10.3 percent).

Of the 692 new cases in Selangor, half were detected through "other screenings" - an umbrella term for screenings for workplaces, pre-surgery, pre-departure and health workers, among others.

[Read more about "other screenings" here.]

According to the Selangor Health Department, 34 new cases were detected through screening of those reporting symptoms, 292 were detected through targeted screening at workplaces and another 14 through other either pre-warding, pre-employment or voluntary screening.

There are also notably more new cases from the Jalan Harapan cluster, which is related to the Sungai Buloh prison in Selangor.

A breakdown of the new cases are as follows:

Selangor (692)

Existing clusters: 172

New cluster (Tapak Bina Lebuh): 3

Close contact: 169

Imported: 2

Other screenings: 346

Sabah (260)

Existing clusters: 42

New cluster (Sugud): 5

Close contact: 132

Imported: 1

Other screenings: 80

Kuala Lumpur (197)

Existing clusters: 120

Close contact: 43

Imported: 3

Other screenings: 22

Negeri Sembilan (174)

Existing clusters: 140

New cluster (Persiaran Heights): 20

Close contact: 3

Other screenings: 11

Malacca (140)

Existing clusters: 139

Close contact: 1

Johor (88)

Existing clusters: 18

New clusters (Tembok Gajah, Utama Rini): 16

Close contact: 22

Imported: 2

Other screenings: 19

Perak (65)

Existing clusters: 59

Close contact: 4

Other screenings: 2

Penang (37)

Existing clusters: 10

Close contact: 8

Other screenings: 19

Labuan (19)

Existing clusters: 11

Close contact: 3

Other screenings: 5

Pahang (6)

Existing clusters: 4

Close contact: 2

Putrajaya (6)

Existing clusters: 1

Close contact: 5

Kedah (4)

Existing clusters: 2

Close contact: 2

Terengganu (4)

Existing clusters: 2

Close contact: 1

Other screenings: 1

Sarawak (1)

Other screenings: 1

Kelantan (1)

Other screenings: 1

According to the Health Ministry, there are 197 active clusters of which 60 reported new cases.

The most number of new cases are from the aforementioned Jalan Harapan cluster (235), followed by Tapak Bina Muda cluster (74) and the Tembok cluster (55).

The Tapak Bina Muda cluster is a construction site cluster in Kuala Lumpur while the Tembok cluster has been active since September and originated from the Alor Setar prison in Kedah.

The Health Ministry today classified six new clusters.

The Tapak Bina Lebuh cluster involved a construction site at the Sepang district in Selangor. Of the 285 individuals screened, 20 are Covid-19 positive.

The Sugud cluster involved the Penampang and Papar districts in Sabah. The index case reported symptoms and was diagnosed on Nov 26. So far, there are 26 cases in this cluster.

The Tapak Bina Jalan Tengah cluster involved a construction site in the Lembah Pantai district of Kuala Lumpur. So far, this cluster has 11 cases.

The Persiaran Heights cluster involved the Seremban district in Negeri Sembilan. The index case was diagnosed on Dec 14 after reporting symptoms. So far, there are 21 cases in this cluster.

The Tembok Gajah cluster involved the Kluang district in Johor where the index case was diagnosed on Dec 16 after reporting symptoms. There are 13 cases in this cluster.

The Utama Rini cluster involved the Johor Bahru, Kulai and Pontian cluster in Johor where the index case was diagnosed on Dec 11 after reporting symptoms. There are 22 cases in this cluster so far. - Mkini