Another COVID-19 cluster has been detected in Kedah, in the Kuala Muda district where a policeman became the first case, said Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said the case reported today (case 9,147) is a colleague of the index case (case 9,114), and the source of infection is still being investigated.

“Following that, active case detection and close contact tracing were conducted on Aug 13, and the case was confirmed positive on Aug 14 (today). As of today, 124 of his close contacts have been screened,” he said in a statement on COVID-19 updates today.

Of this number, two were tested positive, five were negative and 117 are still awaiting their results, he said, adding that the cases in this cluster are all Malaysians.

Active case detection was continuing and preventive and containment measures like disinfection and sanitisation had been conducted at identified locations, he added.

He also said 11 new cases were reported in Kedah's Tawar Cluster today, 10 of which were detected in Kedah and one was in Penang (case 9,149).

He said case 9,129 from this cluster which was reported yesterday had been admitted to the Penang Hospital from a private medical centre but is still registered as a Kedah case.

“As at noon today, 261 people have been screened from this cluster. Of this number, 21 cases were confirmed positive,” he added.

According to a breakdown of screenings by state, in Kedah 156 individuals have been screened and 20 cases were positive, 77 negative and 59 are still awaiting their results, while in Penang 105 have been screened and one was positive, 75 negative and 29 are still waiting for their results.

Dr Noor Hisham said active case detection and screening of close contacts were continuing for this cluster, and the latest situation would be announced from time to time.

-- BERNAMA