Five more clusters detected today - Health DG

KUALA LUMPUR: Another five new COVID-19 clusters were detected in the country today, namely three in Sabah and once each in the Federal Territory of Labuan and Selangor.

Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the three new clusters in Sabah were the Kasih Cluster, the Surat Cluster and the Khazanah Cluster, with the Bah Bundle Cluster in Labuan, and the Sungei Way Cluster in Selangor.

He said the Kasih Cluster was identified in Lahad Datu district when the index case number-12,509 was found to positive after a screening done by health workers on Sept 27 and was admitted to the Lahad Datu Hospital for treatment.

"Screenings conducted on close contacts have detected 33 more positive cases, while 1,804 individuals are still awaiting results," he said during his virtual press conference broadcast on the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) Facebook page today.

As for the Surat Cluster in Sandakan, Dr Noor Hisham said it involved index case number-15,097 who was detected positive after being screened for symptoms, and was admitted to the Lahad Datu Hospital for treatment, while 24 of the patient’s close contacts tested positive and 49 individuals were still awaiting results.

On the Khazanah Cluster also in Lahad Datu, Dr Noor Hisham said index case number-14,842 was detected positive after a screening done on Oct 9, and admitted to Lahad Datu Hospital.

"Screenings done on close contacts resulted in the detection of 13 more positive cases, and as of now, there are 638 individuals still waiting for the results," he said.

Elaborating on the Sungei Way Cluster, which involves the Petaling and Gombak districts in Selangor and Titiwangsa in Kuala Lumpur, Dr Noor Hisham said the index case number-14,307 was detected positive on Oct 7 and admitted to Sungai Buloh Hospital.

"Following screenings done on close contacts, 17 more positive cases have been identified and seven more individuals are still waiting for the results," he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said the Bah Bundle Cluster in the Federal Territory of Labuan involved index case number-11,771 who was detected positive after returning from a high-risk area in Sabah on Oct 2 and was admitted to the Labuan Hospital.

"Screenings on close contacts have found two more positive cases and 296 individuals are still awaiting results," he said.

He said other clusters that recorded an increase in the number of cases were the LD Benteng Cluster (17 cases); Tembok Cluster (16); Tujuh Serangkai Cluster (eight); Tanamera Cluster (eight); Utama Cluster (five); Jalan Meru Cluster (two); while the Ramai-ramai, Highway and Prison Remand clusters each recorded one new case.

-- BERNAMA