Malaysia Breaches 9,000 Covid-19 Cases With Two New Infections

Non-compliance of home surveillance orders led to eight Covid-19 clusters.

KUALA LUMPUR, August 3 — Malaysia has recorded a total of 9,001 Covid-19 cases, with 208 active cases, according to the Ministry of Health (MOH) today.

MOH recorded two new Covid-19 cases today in Kedah and Labuan. The case in Kedah belongs to the Sivagangga persons-under-investigation (PUI) cluster.

According to MOH, the restaurant involved in this cluster did not use the federal government’s MySejahtera contact tracing application or other measures recording customers’ contact details, causing difficulties in contact tracing activities.

The Sivagangga PUI cluster originated from an imported case, a restaurant owner who returned from India but broke home quarantine rules and spent time at his restaurant.

This caused widespread transmission of Covid-19 infections in the cluster that has recorded 21 confirmed cases so far and led to the enforcement of an Administrative Movement Control Order (TEMCO) in four sub-districts (mukim) in Kedah from August 3 to 30.

Senior Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced earlier today that the federal government has approved the Kedah state government’s request to impose the TEMCO at:

  • a 1km-radius from Restoran Nasi Kandar Salleh, Pekan Napoh (Mukim Hosba, Kubang Pasu)
  • Kampung Pida Satu, Megat Dewa (Mukim Ah, Kubang Pasu)
  • Kampung Bendang Dalam (Mukim Binjal, Kubang Pasu)
  • Kampung Ulu, Padang Sanai (Padang Terap)

During the administrative lockdown, mosques and places of worship in those areas will be closed, including Friday prayers.

As of today, a total of 425 people have been screened for the coronavirus under the Sivagangga cluster. Twenty-one cases were detected with Covid-19, while 362 tested negative. A total of 42 people are still waiting for test results

The newly reported case (Patient 9,000) from this cluster was a customer of the restaurant owned by the index case (Patient 8,937). Patient 9,000 underwent Covid-19 screening at a private health facility on July 27, with the antibody rapid test kit showing negative results. (Antibody tests do not detect current coronavirus infection, but only whether one has developed antibodies to the virus that may only develop one to two weeks after an infection).

On July 31, Patient 9,000 began to experience symptoms of fever and cough, but he or she did not contact the district health office or the nearest health clinic to seek immediate treatment.

“Only one day later, after participating in activities during Hari Raya Aidiladha, the person informed [authorities] that they were a close contact of the index case. Following that, a screening was carried out by using the RT-PCR test and the person tested positive with Covid-19. The person was admitted to Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital for treatment,” Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement.

Following that, MOH reminded the public not to keep or conceal any important information regarding close contact with infected people or other relevant information from the authorities.

“People should come forward if they are at high risk or have close contact with a positive case of Covid-19. It is a social responsibility that must exist in each individual so that we can curb the virus transmission and infection.”

It is to be noted that the government today announced that it will introduce a regulation mandating all business premises to use the federal government’s MySejahtera, even if some may be using other contact tracing apps.

Apart from the Sivagangga PUI cluster, MOH reported several other clusters too that originated from imported cases who did not follow the home surveillance order (HSO) rules. They are:

• Elsa Cluster
• Novgorod PUI Cluster
• Claim PUI Cluster
• Melbourne PUI Cluster
• Ramnad PUI Cluster
• Al Khobar PUI Cluster
• Shirala PUI Cluster

The second new Covid-19 case reported today was a college student identified through a random screening of students and has been admitted to Labuan Hospital.

Four Covid-19 patients were discharged today, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 8,668. No new death was recorded today and the total Covid-19 death toll stays at 125.

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