Five new COVID-19 clusters detected - Health DG

The Health Ministry (MOH) detected five new COVID-19 clusters today, in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Pahang, Sabah, Kedah and Perak.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said one of them was the Jalan Panah Building Site Cluster in Lembah Pantai district in Kuala Lumpur, whose index case was confirmed positive on Dec 7 via targeted screening at a construction site.

“As at Dec 23, 1,000 individuals have been screened in this cluster, with 21 cases confirmed positive,” he said at a press conference on COVID-19.

Apart from this, the Menara Wang Cluster involving workplace infections was detected in Lembah Pantai, Cheras, Titiwangsa in Kuala Lumpur; Petaling, Klang, Sepang and Hulu Langat districts in Selangor; and Maran in Kuantan, Pahang.

Dr Noor Hisham said the index case for this cluster was reported COVID-19 positive on Dec 17 through screening of symptomatic individuals, and so far 293 people have been screened, with 23 confirmed positive.

He said the third new cluster is the Saga Tengah Cluster involving Tenom and Keningau districts in Sabah, whose index case was reported positive on Dec 18 through screening of symptomatic individuals. So far 298 individuals in this cluster have been screened, with 16 cases found positive.

For the Kolam Air Cluster in Kota Setar and Kubang Pasu, Kedah, the index case was detected on Dec 12 via screening of persons under detention (OKT), and so far 84 individuals have been screened, with 14 found positive, he said.

The Hala Mutiara Cluster in Kinta, Perak involved an index case identified through OKT screening on Dec 12, and 51 individuals have been screened, with seven found positive.

He also said 256 clusters had ended, including three today, namely Kiambang, Padang and Liawan Clusters, leaving the number of active clusters at 208.

“Of this number, 43 clusters reported new cases today, with the highest at Muda Building Site Cluster (162 cases), Jalan Harapan Prison Cluster (123) and Teratai Cluster (79),” he said.