COVID-19: Six new clusters identified today - Health DG

PUTRAJAYA: Six new COVID-19 clusters were detected in Sabah, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and the Federal Territory of Putrajaya today, says Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said the first, known as the Sandakan Prison Cluster, involved an index case identified through a screening process on Oct 27.

"As of noon today, a total of 293 individuals from this cluster have been screened, of which 39 cases were detected COVID-19 positive, while 254 individuals are still awaiting their results," he said during his press conference at the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH).

He said the second cluster was known as the Dialysis Cluster detected in Sandakan and Lahad Datu, where three index cases were found positive in a screening done on health staff on Oct 23.

He said 16 more cases were detected from the cluster based on screening of close contacts, and all of them were being treated at the Lahad Datu Hospital.

Dr Noor Hisham said the third - Sepanggar Cluster - was detected in Kota Kinabalu, where screenings on close contacts revealed another seven positive COVID-19 cases.

''The index case for this cluster was found to be COVID-19-positive through a screening on symptomatic individuals on Oct 24, 2020, and admitted to the COVID-19 Low-risk Quarantine and Treatment Centre at the Mara Skills Institute in Sepanggar, Sabah, ”he said.

He said the fourth cluster was discovered in the Petaling area known as the Aero Cluster involving an index case identified through close contact screenings on Nov 3.

He said another 10 of 95 individuals screened in the cluster were found positive.

Meanwhile, the Lengkuk Cluster involves cases in Sepang, Seremban, Port Dickson and Rembau.

Dr Noor Hisham said the index case for the cluster had been identified on Oct 28 and admitted to the Sungai Buloh Hospital.

The sixth - Kading Cluster - involves cases in the Federal Territory of Putrajaya and Seremban.

He said of the 32 individuals who had been screened, seven were detected COVID-19 positive, eight were negative, while 17 others are still awaiting results.

Meanwhile, Noor Hisham said two clusters, namely the Embun Cluster in Selangor, and Bah Tanjung Cluster in Terengganu were declared to have ended today.

No deaths were reported from the two clusters, he added.

-- BERNAMA