THE Health Ministry today reported four new Covid-19 clusters, bringing the number of active clusters in the country to 28.

They were discovered in Klang, Putrajaya, Langkawi and Tawau.

The first cluster, known as Jalan Meru, was detected in Klang after a 30-year-old man who was symptomatic tested positive for Covid-19 on September 29, Health Director General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.

Three more positive cases were discovered after the close contacts of the index patient were screened. All four of them are currently being treated at the Sungai Buloh Hospital in Selangor.

Noor Hisham said the district health office is also in the midst of identifying the close contacts of the positive cases for screening.

Meanwhile, the Joo Hwa cluster was discovered in Tawau, Sabah after a 31-year-old man experienced cough and fever symptoms.

Four more cases were discovered following screenings of close contacts of the index case. All five patients have been admitted to the Tawau Hospital.

Health authorities have screened 126 individuals as of noon today, of which the test results of 11 people came back negative.

The remaining 110 individuals are still waiting for their results.

The Selasih cluster in Putrajaya, which reported five cases, was detected after the index patient had travelled to virus hotspot, Sabah.

The 37-year-old man had recently visited Kota Kinabalu, Melangkap and Kundasang, between September 13 and September 27 – and started experiencing cough symptoms on September 25.

He touched down at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on September 27 and was tested positive for the coronavirus on the following day.

Six more cases linked to this cluster were subsequently detected and all of them are currently warded at the Sungai Buloh Hospital.

MOH has screened 28 individuals as of noon today, whereby eight tested negative while 11 are still waiting for their test results.

Similarly, the index case of the Bah Ketil cluster, which was discovered in Langkawi, Kedah also had a recent travel history to Sabah.

The 39-year-old man had visited Tawau, Sabah from September 17 to 21.  He started experiencing cough and body ache on September 24 and was subsequently admitted to a medical centre in Sungai Petani, Kedah.

The man was tested positive for Covid-19 on September 28. Eight more cases linked to this cluster were discovered through screening of his close contacts.

The positive cases from this cluster are currently being treated at the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital and Langkawi Hospital.

Authorities have screened 253 individuals in total of which 203 tested negative while 40 people are still waiting for their test results.

Noor Hisham said the ministry was still investigating the source of infections for all the clusters.

He added that 128 clusters were detected in the country since the onset of the virus in January, of which 100 are no longer active.

Malaysia today reported its second highest number of daily cases with 260 new infections.

Reminding people against becoming lax to Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), Noor Hisham said the virus is very much present in the community.

“The ministry is aware that after nine months many Malaysians and frontlines are fatigued from having to comply with the SOPs,” he said.

However, (we) have to remind that the virus can never be fatigued,” he added.

He warned that it would be a big mistake to perceive that the conditions have returned to normal.

As such, he reminded the people to not become lax and take the SOPs lightly as that may lead to new infections.

He also reminded members of the public to stay at home if they do not need to go out. – October 1, 2020.