COVID-19: MOH detects six new clusters linked to workplaces

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Health (MOH) has identified six more new COVID-19 clusters linked to workplaces in several districts in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Negeri Sembilan, Penang and Johor, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said the clusters in Selangor were the Sungai Putus Cluster in Klang and Erima Cluster in Gombak.

"The early cases for the Sungai Putus Cluster tested positive from Dec 9 following the targeted workplace screening of a factory.

"As of today, a total of 2,001 individuals have been screened, with 427 -- nine Malaysians and 418 foreigners -- testing positive,” he said in a statement today.

For the Erima Cluster, the index case tested positive on Dec 7 through the screening of symptomatic individuals. The employer then screened its workers and 28 individuals, who were close contacts of the index case, tested positive. As of today, 83 individuals have been screened and 29 were found to be positive.

Dr Noor Hisham said that for the Jalan Berangan Construction Site Cluster in the Lembah Pantai, Titiwangsa and Kepong districts of Kuala Lumpur, the early cases tested positive from Dec 9 following targeted screening at a construction site.

For this cluster, 1,246 individuals were screened and six of them tested positive as of today.

Meanwhile, one cluster involving the districts of Kulai and Johor Bahru in Johor, named the Langkasuka Cluster, was detected after the index case tested positive on Dec 5 through the screening of symptomatic individuals. As of today, 113 individuals have been screened and 14 tested positive.

He said 11 positive cases were detected in the Jalan College Cluster in the districts of Seremban, Negeri Sembilan and Petaling, Selangor, with the index case testing positive on Dec 3 through the screening of symptomatic individuals.

The Sungai Keluang Cluster was detected in the Timur Laut and Barat Daya districts of Seberang Perai Utara and Seberang Perai Selatan in Penang, with the index case testing positive on Dec 5 as a result of screening before going abroad.

"Close contact tracing at the workplace found 16 positive cases. As of Dec 11, a total of 99 individuals have been screened, with 16 testing positive,” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said that with the addition of these six new clusters, a total of 407 clusters have been reported so far, with 190 active clusters being monitored.

Three more clusters have been declared ended today, namely the Taman Lau Cluster (Selangor, BMU Cluster (Melaka) and Ikhtisas Cluster (Selangor, Kelantan and Negeri Sembilan).

-- BERNAMA