COVID-19 weekly round-up: Surge in cases among Sabah returnees

Out of the new cases, only one was imported and it involved a non-citizen travelling from the United Kingdom.

Malaysia recorded its highest number of new COVID-19 cases – 277 – on June 4, and third highest (235) on March 26 during the first phase of the Movement Control Order.

As of noon yesterday, Malaysia’s total number of COVID-19 cases had crept up to 11,484 while active cases ballooned to 1,334.

For the record, on Sept 1 the cumulative total of cases stood at 9,354 and active cases 151. And, only 14 new cases were reported that day.

This week, 89 new cases were reported on Wednesday (Sept 30), 101 on Tuesday, 115 on Monday, 150 on Sunday and 82 on Saturday (Sept 26).

At a media conference yesterday, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said out of the 259 locally transmitted cases yesterday, 130 involved Malaysians and 129 non-citizens.

And, out of the 259 cases, 31 had a history of travel to Sabah, bringing the total number of such cases to 119 since Sept 20.

Yesterday, 47 patients were discharged, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 10,014 (87.2 per cent of total cases). Twenty patients are being treated in the intensive care unit with three requiring respiratory aid. The death toll remains at 136 (1.18 per cent of total cases).

Dr Noor Hisham stressed that efforts to flatten the COVID-19 infection curve will need the cooperation of all the people. “We can make impossible, possible. We have done it before,” he said.

Just recently, he posted the following on his personal Facebook account: “COVID-19 is in our community now. Stay at home if there are no important matters. If you have to go out, make sure you comply with the SOP and MOH’s (Ministry of Health) health advice. Many of us are taking it easy and are complacent, thinking that we are free from the pandemic.”

According to Dr Noor Hisham, there are currently 24 clusters in Malaysia while 100 other clusters have ended. The active clusters are in Sabah and Kedah.

Out of yesterday’s 260 new cases, 118 were from Sabah – 74 from the Laut cluster, 10 from Benteng LD cluster, 10 from Bangau-Bangau cluster, one from Bakau cluster, one from Sakong cluster and one from a new cluster, Joo Hwa.

Kedah, meanwhile, accounted for 98 of the new infections, 88 of which were from the Tembok cluster (35 Malaysians and 53 non-citizens). This cluster was announced on Sept 30 and its index cases, a 46-year-old male citizen, was Malaysia’s 135th fatality.

Another three new cases involving Malaysian citizens in Kedah were from a new cluster, Bah Ketil.

The Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur accounted for 13 of the new cases yesterday and 12 of them, all Malaysians, tested positive when they underwent screening upon their return from a high-risk area (Sabah).

Selangor recorded 13 new cases yesterday and nine of them, all Malaysians, comprised Sabah returnees. Three (all Malaysians) were from the new Jalan Meru cluster and one (also a Malaysian) was from another new cluster, Selasih.

Other states that had its share of new cases yesterday were Johor (five), Putrajaya (five), Terengganu (two), Perlis (two), Melaka (1), Pahang (1) and Penang (1).

Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob yesterday announced restrictions in inter-district travel in Sabah effective 12.01 am, Oct 3 up to Oct 16.

The travel ban, however, does not apply to those providing essential services such as food supply, as well as medical and security personnel.

As for those who are currently under quarantine, they are allowed to return to their respective districts or to the peninsula, Sarawak and Labuan upon completing their quarantine.

Meanwhile, four districts in Sabah, namely Lahad Datu, Tawau, Kunak and Semporna, have been placed under the administrative Targeted Enhanced Movement Control Order, starting midnight Tuesday (Oct 29) until Oct 12.

On Wednesday, Dr Noor Hisham reiterated his concern over the rising Rt or R-naught (R0), which is an indicator of how contagious a virus is or how easily it spreads from person to person.

He said the R0 value for Selangor at that juncture had climbed to 1.95, breaching the critical level of 1.6.

He said this was because daily COVID-19 cases reported in Selangor had jumped from two cases on Sept 26 to between 10 and 15 cases a day over the last few days.

In the case of Sabah, although it has over 1,000 active cases, its R0 value has remained stable at 1.26, he pointed out.

Kedah’s R0 value stood at 0.65 as of Sept 30 as it recorded only two new cases over the preceding four days, he added.

Malaysia’s R0 value was 3.55 just before the Movement Control Order was enforced in March. On Aug 4, it registered an R0 value of 0.58, the lowest-ever recorded so far.

Bringing down the R0 value and maintaining it at below 1.0 can help Malaysia in its efforts to break the chain of COVID-19 infections.

Meanwhile, 16 districts in six mukim in Selangor have been categorised as red zones as of Wednesday.

The Selangor COVID-19 Task Force said on its Facebook account yesterday that the districts included Kapar, Klang, Ampang, Cheras, Hulu Langat, Kajang, Semenyih, Bukit Raja, Damansara, Petaling and Sungai Buloh.

It said to date, a total of 2,271 COVID-19 cases and 24 deaths have been reported in Selangor.