COVID-19 situation in Besut worrying, says Terengganu Health Director

KUALA TERENGGANU: Terengganu Health Director Dr Nor Azimi Yunus has described the COVID-19 situation in the Besut district as worrying after the incident rate reached 117 cases for every 100,000 residents.

Dr Nor Azimi said of the 16 fatalities reported in Terengganu, eight victims were Besut residents.

"The victims came to the hospitals when their conditions were already critical. There are four patients from Besut that are still being treated at the intensive care unit at the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital in Kuala Terengganu that required the use of ventilators.

"Every day, dozens of cases are reported in the Besut district and a total of 45 new cases were recorded today while eight active clusters are spreading in this district. The biggest clusters are the D'Lahar cluster and Tok Has cluster which reported hundreds of positive cases, " she said in a statement on her official Facebook today.

The 14-day Movement Control Order (MCO) in Besut started yesterday to curb the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak in the district.

Dr Nor Azimi urged Besut residents to continue to restrict their movements and refrain from holding large gatherings.

"The MCO in Besut will fail if the people only focus on adhering to the interstate and interdistrict travel restrictions but at the same time still holding gatherings here and there.

"This situation will get worse if there is no compliance with the standard operating procedures such as wearing face masks and practising hand hygiene," she added.

Terengganu recorded 71 new COVID-19 cases today bringing the cumulative total of cases to 4,799.

-- BERNAMA