COVID-19: Two new clusters identified in Kedah, Selangor

The Health Ministry has detected two new COVID-19 clusters, namely the Telaga Cluster in Kedah and the MV Glen Cluster in Port Klang, Selangor, said Health director-general Tan Sri Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said the Telaga Cluster was identified in the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital, Alor Setar involving a close contact to the 9,284th case (index case) reported on Monday, Aug 24.

"The case is asymptomatic and has been admitted to the hospital for treatment. Both cases are health personnel at the hospital but their duties did not involve managing COVID-19 patients.

"As at noon today, 374 people have been screened, involving family members, hospital staff and others. From the total, two were found to be COVID-19 positive while the rest are negative," he said in a statement today.

Dr Noor Hisham said the cause of infection was still being investigated but it was suspected to be from the community, and more screening would be carried out at the hospital.

Elaborating, he said the services in the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital were not affected and would continue as usual, but preventive measures and infection control such as cleaning and disinfection had been conducted at the premises.

On the MV Glen Cluster, Dr Noor Hisham said it was identified on a vessel at Port Klang with two new positive cases, and the index case was the 9,286th case, a non-Malaysian crew member, which was reported on Tuesday (Aug 25).

The second case involved a Malaysian, who is an agent appointed by a shipping company, and both cases have been admitted to the Sungai Buloh Hospital for treatment.

He said as of Aug 30, eight people have been screened for COVID-19 in the cluster, in which two were found to be positive, while six others were negative.

"Active case detection and close-contact screening are ongoing. The vessel has been disinfected and the cause of infection is being investigated," he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said the 'sign-on' and 'sign-off' health screening measures were crucial as these are among international border controls to contain the entry of individuals potentially infected with COVID-19 into the country.

-- BERNAMA