COVID-19 weekly round-up: Sabah clusters hotbed of positive cases

Three of its clusters contributed to the bulk of the 95 new cases reported today. The new cases comprised 91 local transmissions (90 in Sabah and one in Negeri Sembilan) and four imported cases.

With this, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Malaysia has increased to 10,147 while active cases swelled to 754 compared with only 151 on Sept 1.

Malaysia recorded one more death today, bringing the COVID-19 death toll to 129 (1.27 percent of total cases).

Following the detection of the Benteng LD cluster on Sept 1, three other clusters have emerged in Sabah – Laut (in Kunak) on Sept 12, Pulau (Kunak) on Sept 14 and Selamat (Semporna) on Sept 17.

The peninsula also has its share of active clusters, among them being the Sungai cluster (Kedah and Perlis) that emerged on Sept 7. As of yesterday, this cluster had recorded 65 cases (64 in Kedah and one in Perlis).

Another active cluster is the Tawar cluster (Kedah and Penang) which, as of Sept 13, has recorded 81 cases in Kedah and 11 in Penang.

After last week’s shocking 182 new cases on Sept 11 and 100 new cases on Sept 8, this week’s new infections returned to two figures. Most of the new cases comprised local transmissions while imported cases showed a substantial drop. This could be due to the ban on the entry of Long-Term Social Visit Pass holders from countries with more than 150,000 cases, beginning Sept 7.

Over the 24-hour period up to noon today, 14 patients were discharged, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 9,264 (91.3 percent of total cases).

Eleven patients are being treated in the intensive care unit, with two requiring respiratory aid.

LOCAL TRANSMISSIONS STILL HIGH

On Saturday (Sept 12), there were 58 new cases out of which 53 were local transmissions; Sunday 47 new cases (45 local); Monday 31 new cases (28 local); Tuesday 23 new cases (13 local); Wednesday 62 new cases (61 local) and yesterday 21 new cases (16 local).

The hike in the daily new cases also saw the Rt or R-naught (R0) value inching upwards.

(The R0 refers to the infectivity rate of a virus at the start of an outbreak within a community.)

Before the enforcement of the Movement Control Order on March 18, the R0 stood at 3.55.

In an update on his Facebook account on Sept 15, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah wrote: “Based on the daily cases, the infectivity rate within the community or Rt value in this nation exceeded 1.0, that is 1.58 on Sept 13.

“If we were to examine the Rt value for Sabah, it was at its highest on Sept 8 at 3.72. It was higher than the Rt value for Kedah on the same day which was 2.63. As a result of active public health action, the (Rt) value in both states came down.

“On Sept 13, the Rt value for Sabah was 1.70, almost close to the Rt value for Kedah on the same date, that is, 1.58.”

However, since the Rt value for both states exceeded 1.0, it would have an impact on the Rt value for the nation, said Dr Noor Hisham. Continuous public health action will help to lower the Rt to below 1.0 which will stem COVID-19 transmission and infectivity rates within the community.

SABAH CLUSTERS

So far four clusters have been detected in the Land Below the Wind, the latest one being the Selamat cluster.

According to Dr Noor Hisham, the index case for this cluster is Case No 9,969, who is a 32-year-old pregnant Malaysian woman who was tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept 14 after she was admitted into Hospital Tawau for premature labour.

Today, the Selamat cluster recorded three new cases, bringing the total number of positive cases to five. A total of 132 individuals linked to the index case are still awaiting test results.

The Pulau cluster was announced on Sept 14 and its index case is a Malaysian woman aged 68 who was found unconscious at home and taken to Hospital Kunak and later transferred to Hospital Tawau, where she is now undergoing treatment for stroke and heart and liver diseases. She tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept 13 and is in the intensive care unit.

Today, this cluster recorded four new cases, bringing the total of positive cases to 14. A total of 268 individuals are awaiting test results.

The Laut cluster was announced on Sept 12 and the index case is an illegal immigrant detained at a temporary detention centre in Tawau. So far, this cluster has reported four positive cases, including the wife and children of the index case. Another 31 individuals are awaiting the outcome of their COVID-19 screening.

The Benteng LD (Lahad Datu and Tawau) cluster was first detected on Sept 1 following the screening of new detainees at the Lahad Datu district police headquarters’ lockup.

As of today, this cluster had reported 550 positive cases. Out of this number, 151 were reported in Lahad Datu where another 552 individuals are still awaiting their test results.

In Tawau, 398 positive cases were reported as of today while 1,286 individuals are still waiting for their results.