COVID-19: Malaysia records 69 sporadic cases, origin unknown - Health DG

Malaysia has recorded 69 COVID-19 sporadic cases so far in which its origin and source of infection are unknown, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said.

He said the results were obtained from 8,025 tests done for sporadic infections through influenza-like-illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) patients with the remaining 7,956 test results turning out negative.

“So, we have sporadic cases but not much is known about its origin and source of infection. There were some cases which appeared to be sporadic cases but when tracing its history, either the Sri Petaling (tabligh) or the church gathering in Kuching, they turned out not be (sporadic) as we could not trace its origin.

“We have 69 of such cases in which we cannot trace the source of infection,” Dr Noor Hisham said in the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 daily media conference here today.

Meanwhile, he said the ministry has now only one week’s supply of reagent, the substance used in COVID-19 testing, and efforts are being made to replenish them.

“We were short of reagent last week, and the three suppliers we had identified could only supply us with 40 percent of what we required.

“So when there is a shortage, suppliers are also sourcing for it from Singapore... the Sabah Health Department is also trying to source for supply,” he said, and hoped that stock could be obtained as soon as possible.

He said the ministry was also currently optimising its use of the substance.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said the MOH had never made public the personal details of COVID-19 patients but merely confined information to the number of patients and case numbers.

This comes in the wake of the emergence of portal that has been using the MOH logo while exposing full details of COVID-19 patients.

-- BERNAMA