DR Noor Hisham Abdullah today described the country’s Covid-19 situation as worrying after 15 new infections were reported, 11 of them being local transmissions.

The fresh cases bring the national total to 8,815, with 130 of them categorised as active, the director-general of health told a press conference in Putrajaya.

“It is worrying because the numbers are increasing, especially local transmissions.

“Furthermore, on July 9, active cases dropped to 63, but now, they have reached 130.”

Of the 11 local transmissions, 10 involve Malaysians. The sole foreigner has been sent to the Semuja immigration depot in Sarawak.

“The other four cases involve three Malaysians who returned from the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and the UK, and one foreigner who came in from Indonesia,” said Dr Noor Hisham.

He said five of the local cases are from the new “Sentosa cluster” detected at a Kuching hospital.

One new case is from the Kuching medical centre cluster and another from the Stutong cluster. One patient is a caregiver who got self-tested for the coronavirus.

Of the 130 active cases, four are in intensive care, with one patient requiring respiratory assistance.

No new fatalities were registered, keeping the death toll at 123, said Dr Noor Hisham. – July 21, 2020.