COVID-19: 1,041 new cases, three deaths - Health D-G

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia recorded 1,041 new COVID-19 cases today, bringing the total number of positive cases in the country to 53,679.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this brought the number of active cases in the country 12,854 cases, with 1,405 recoveries taking the cumulative total of those recovered to 40,493.

According to Dr Noor Hisham, 1,039 of the cases today were local transmissions, with two import cases from abroad.

He said the three states which recorded the highest number of cases today were Selangor with 402 cases (38.6 per cent), Sabah with 346 cases (33.2 per cent) and Negeri Sembilan with 121 cases (11.6 per cent).

"The high number of COVID-19 positive cases reported in Selangor is due to the spike in the Teratai Cluster which is 298 cases (74.1 per cent)," he said in a statement today.

He said the high number of cases in Sabah meanwhile was due to active COVID-19 screenings, while in Negeri Sembilan, it was due to more people testing positive from the existing clusters.

According to the statement, 21 of the cases (two per cent) today were related to prison clusters, namely the Jalan Harapan Prison Cluster (17 cases) (Selangor), Tembok Cluster (three cases) (Kedah) and Seberang Perai Prison Cluster (one case) (Penang).

Dr Noor Hisham said there were 108 positive cases being treated at the intensive care unit (ICU) with 45 cases requiring respiratory assistance.

He added that there were three deaths reported today, namely two men and a woman in Sabah, which took the total number of casualties to 332 cases, or 0.6 per cent of the total.

All three aged 55 to 78 had underlying medical conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

Dr Noor Hisham said three new clusters were identified today, namely the Jalan Harapan Prison Cluster, Kota Kecil Cluster and Sky Coklat Cluster.

He said the Jalan Harapan Prison Cluster involved Sungai Buloh Prison in Selangor, with so far 17 cases detected following the screening of 113 individuals.

The Kota Kecil cluster in the Kota Tinggi district, Johor, involved an index case who tested positive following symptomatic screening done on Nov 15.

“To date, a total of 467 individuals have been screened, with nine detected positive. All cases have been admitted to the Enche’ Besar Hajjah Khalsom Hospital in Kluang," he said.

As for the Sky Coklat Cluster in Labuan, Dr Noor Hisham said the index case tested positive following symptomatic screening on Nov 19, with seven more cases tested positive to date, all of whom have been admitted to the Labuan Hospital.

He said among the clusters that reported a high number of new cases apart from the Teratai Cluster were the Hentian Cluster (79 cases), and the Damanlela Construction Site Cluster (43 cases).

Two clusters were also reported to have ended today, namely the Bah Kayu Cluster and the Lekir Cluster, bringing the total number of ended clusters to 159.

-- BERNAMA