THE Ministry of Health today reported four new Covid-19 clusters, bringing the total number of active clusters in the country to 168.

Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham said the Bintang cluster was among the top-three workplace clusters that saw the most number of cases.

The cluster that was discovered in Lembah Pantai involved construction workers, and has thus far, reported 95 positive cases, of whom only one was a citizen.

Meanwhile, 10 positive cases were traced to the Indah Mas cluster in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur and Petaling, Selangor.

Over in Perak, health authorities detected the Teja Kasih cluster that reported 41 positive cases.

Both the Indah Mas and Teja Kasih clusters were linked to index patients who tested positive for the coronavirus after experiencing symptoms.

The Kobena cluster in Johor, on the other hand, stemmed from an index patient who was diagnosed with Severe Acute Respiratory Infections. The cluster has infected 13 people so far.

Touching on existing clusters, Noor Hisham said apart from the Bintang cluster, the Teratai and Damanlela workplace clusters saw the most number of infections, reporting 1,067 and 105 cases respectively.

The Teratai cluster is linked to Top Glove’s factories in Selangor.

Earlier today, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the glove maker’s 28 factories in the Kapar industrial zone in Klang will be closed in stages after recording high numbers of infections.

An enhanced movement-control order (EMCO) has also been implemented at the workers’ dormitories and factories.

Welcoming the move, Noor Hisham said the closure will enable health authorities to screen the company’s entire workforce of 13,000 people spread across the 28 premises.

He said a total of 2,524 cases have been detected out of the 5,767 people screened.

The test results for another 1,330 came back negative while 1,913 others are still waiting for their results.

Noor Hisham added that 2,360 cases involved foreigners while 164 were citizens.

“The factories will be closed in phases and we will screen all 13,000 workers,” he said.

Top Glove aside, Noor Hisham said there have been previous instances of exponential rise in cases in other EMCO areas. – November 23, 2020.