KUALA TERENGGANU: The emergence of a new COVID-19 cluster in Terengganu, the Ladang Bukit cluster, is due to non-compliance with standard operating procedures (SOP) at workplace, said Terengganu Health director Dr Nor Azimi Yunus.

She said since the cluster was registered on March 12, a total of 96 individuals had tested positive for COVID-19 and 1,023 close contacts were detected in four districts, namely Kemaman, Dungun, Marang and Kuala Terengganu.

Five primary school students and a teacher were among the positive cases in the cluster, she said in a statement posted on her Facebook page today.

Nor Azimi said the spread of COVID-19 could be prevented if the public complied with the prescribed SOPs in the workplace.

The SOPs should have become a new practice and norm in our daily life, she said and advised the public to register for the COVID-19 vaccination.

The case index in the Ladang Bukit cluster involved a 29-year-old Malaysian citizen who tested positive for COVID-19 on March 10 following a symptomatic individual screening.

-- BERNAMA