The government has released a daily list of potential Covid-19 hotspots nationwide as part of efforts to assist pre-emptive measures by travellers, visitors and premises owners.
Science, Technology and Innovations Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the locations and premises were detected by the Hotspot Identification for Dynamic Engagement (Hide) system.
"The Hide analysis undertaken by the Health Ministry's Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) will make predictions on premises with the potential to be Covid-19 infection hotspots within seven days, based on observations conducted," he said in a statement today.
On the first day, Kuala Lumpur topped the list with 62 locations, followed by Selangor with 54 locations, comprising largely of shopping malls, hypermarket chains, convenient stores and wet markets.
Other listed premises include several bank outlets, two factories, LRT stations and two large mosques. It also listed one public park in Kuala Lumpur - Taman Metropolitan Kepong.
According to Hide's frequently asked questions, the listed premises are not actual clusters but potential clusters which could be at risk of materialising unless pre-emptive measures are taken.
Khairy said the listing of the locations for public reference is urgent given the worrying number of daily Covid-19 cases, with 23,712 new positive cases detected in the past week and a 21 percent increase in intensive care unit (ICU) admissions.
Among pre-emptive measures that could be taken include sending a casual contact notification via MySejahtera; stricter movement control for visitors; preventing entry to high-risk customers/visitors; setting up a work bubble or work from home arrangements; and mass screening of employees.
"The public is advised to postpone their visits to the locations or premises listed.
"If it remains necessary to do so, follow set standard operating procedures and always practise the set new norms," he added.
Khairy on Tuesday said the National Security Council special meeting on May 1 had decided to utilise Hide as a more integrated early warning system to identify areas, or premises, at risk of becoming Covid-19 infection hotspots.
Outside of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, there were 32 other locations listed, also comprising of mostly commercial premises where it was predicted that there could be a larger number of people gathering.
The daily list is compiled based on backward and forward contact tracing using MySejahtera check-in data, where a sizeable number of individuals potentially exposed to Covid-19-positive people visited the premises.
There is also the possibility of premises being listed more than once, which would be an indication that controls have been inadequate. - Mkini
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