COVID-19: Malaysia's daily infection tally back to single digit at seven

The last single-digit tally for new cases was reported on July 23.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this brings the country’s infection tally to 8,904 cases, with the number of active cases now at 179.

“Of the seven new cases, four were imported who got infected abroad, involving three Malaysians and a foreigner married to a Malaysian,” he said at the COVID-19 media briefing in Putrajaya today.

The imported cases are from Pakistan (one case in Sabah); Russia (one case in Selangor); Australia (one case in Kuala Lumpur); and Indonesia (one case in Kuala Lumpur).

Dr Noor Hisham also said that the three local transmissions all involved Malaysians residing in Sabah.

The local transmissions were cases involving pre-surgery screenings, namely two at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, while the other was from the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Likas, Dr Noor Hisham said.

There was also one recovery today, bringing the cumulative recoveries to 8,601 cases or 96.6 percent of the total number of cases, he said.

There were no cases in the intensive care unit or new fatalities reported today, with the country’s COVID-19 death toll remaining at 124 cases, he added.

Asked about the Bukit Tiram cluster in Johor that involved a Roman Catholic church, Dr Noor Hisham said the cluster was identified as one of the groups for targetted approach.

Contact tracing to identify close contacts and those who had been present at the identified religious centre will be done immediately, he said.

“Apart from screenings and Active Case Detection, high-risk individuals closely linked to this group are very much encouraged to go for COVID-19 screening.

“If they have symptoms, contact the nearest health clinic or district health office for treatment,” he said.

Asked his views on the global pandemic situation, Dr Noor Hisham said the current situation was worrying, adding that if COVID-19 cases in Malaysia were to spike drastically, health facilities would not be able to cope with the high load, which could then paralyse the nation’s health care system.

He said to avoid this scenario, everyone must do their part and comply with standard operating procedures and the ministry’s advice.