COVID-19: Detection, screening to go on after cluster ends - Health DG

Detection and screening activities will continue with the COVID-19 cluster in Seri Petaling and its subclusters, even though it has officially ended today.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said tracking and screening activities would still be carried out on the tahfiz and madrasah clusters.

"If there is a need or signs of increasing cases, such in the tabligh group, we will continue to conduct screening.

"Presently, MOH (Health Ministry) will carry out targeted screening on high risk groups that have been identified and at the locations involved," he said in press conference on COVID-19 development, here today.

Earlier, he announced that the Seri Petaling cluster has officially ended, 28 days after the last case on June 11.

The first case was detected on March 11 and infection spread up to five generations with a total of 3,375 positive cases and 34 deaths.

Asked on the new emerging evidence that COVID-19 can be airborne and can infect humans within two meters, Dr Noor Hisham said so far, the government's preventive measures have been taken and followed by the people who have managed to break COVID-19 transmission chain.

He said, if the public continues to take precautionary measures, adhere to standard operating procedures (SOPs), with good hygiene standards it will help to prevent them from being infected.

"Everyday we are learning something new about the outbreak, so far...with preventive actions and SOP, we have succeeded in breaking the chain of infection in the country.

"We have been practising one metre social distancing, if it is two metres or three metres it is even better....clearly the approach works. Practise good self-hygiene such as frequent hand washing, ethical coughing and wear face masks in public places," he said.

-- BERNAMA