COVID-19: 43 new cases, including 38 local infections

Fifteen positive cases of COVID-19 were detected among Malaysians as the country reported 43 new cases today, said Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said the 15 Malaysian patients -- one in Kuala Lumpur, four in Selangor, five in Negeri Sembilan, two in Melaka, and one each in Pahang, Perak and Sabah -- were among the 38 local transmissions reported.

Seven of the 15 cases were detected from screenings done at tahfiz centres, he told a daily news conference on COVID-19 here today.

He said the 43 new cases brought the cumulative figure for positive cases to 8,445.

"Of the 43 new cases, five are imported cases which were infected overseas -- four involving Malaysians and one a permanent resident.

"Of the 38 local transmissions, 23 are foreigners and 15 are Malaysians,” he added.

Malaysia has recorded single digits in daily new cases before, with the two cases on Wednesday being the lowest since March 18, but the number climbed back to two digits with 31 cases on Thursday and 33 cases yesterday.

Dr Noor Hisham said one COVID-19-related death was reported in Sabah, bringing the death toll to 120. It was among the 15 local transmissions involving Malaysians.

"The 120th death (Case 8,403) was a 96-year-old Malaysian woman. She died at her house on June 12 and the body was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Sabah.

"The COVID-19 test conducted was positive. The source of infection for this case is still being investigated,” he said.

On local infections involving Malaysians, he said one sentinel case was detected in Kuala Lumpur via Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) surveillance at a health clinic.

"There are four cases in Selangor, involving two screening cases at two tahfiz centres and two screening cases of frontliners (non-healthcare personnel) in Sabak Bernam.

p"Negeri Sembilan has three screening cases at three tahfiz centres, one screening case of a civil servant In Seremban planning to return to Sabah and one screening case of a close contact of a COVID-19 patient (Case 7,756) in Negeri Sembilan. The contact happened during visitation activities on the first day of Hari Raya,” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said the Pahang case was detected through community screening in Temerloh, the Perak case at a tahfiz centre, and the two cases in Melaka comprised one at a home for the elderly in Melaka Tengah and one at a tahfiz centre.

He also said 143 cases had recovered and were discharged today, raising the total number of recoveries to 7,311.

With this, the number of active cases with infectivity is 1,014, he said.

On infections among foreigners, Dr Noor Hisham said 21 cases are inmates of the Bukit Jalil Immigration Detention Depot (DTI) in Kuala Lumpur, and they have been moved to the Malaysian Immigration Academy (AIM) in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan.

"One case was from screening done at the Vegetable Wholesale Market by the Penampang Health Office, Sabah and one was from the screening of foreign estate workers in Temerloh, Pahang," he added.

-- BERNAMA