SOME 37 people have been infected from a Covid-19 patient who went to Italy, director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.

The index case in this cluster is patient 1,580 and, since then, 37 people have been infected in this cluster, with five deaths reported so far.

“This cluster has infections up to the third generation,” he told the daily press conference on Covid-19 today.

“As of April 5, 180 countries have been affected by Covid-19.

“Therefore, there is a risk of Covid-19 cases being imported into Malaysia and spread within the country,” he said.

In the case of patient 1,580 who went to Italy, Noor Hisham said the person went as a tourist and was discharged from hospital after the serology test results came back negative.

“Through this we could see that one case could infect up to 37 people and this has resulted in deaths.”

One of the four deaths reported in the 24 hours up to 12pm today was linked to this cluster, he added.

There is also another case related to the same cluster in Sarawak, and the patient is currently in critical condition.

Noor Hisham also called on those who had close contact with positive cases, travelled overseas or attended the gatherings highlighted by the ministry to not withhold information.

In line with the MCO, overseas returnees will be sent to quarantine stations for 14 days where they will be monitored.

He also said there are still Malaysian members of tabligh communities abroad in places like Sulawesi, India and Pakistan.

He hoped tabligh groups returning will come forward to the Health Ministry.

“We hope when they are back we need to collaborate with the police and the Immigration Department to make sure they come forward for testing.

“This is important so that they can avoid infecting others. Sometimes they do not realise that they are carrying the infection,” he said.

At present, at least 17,000 samples have been taken from tabligh cluster, of which 1,590 were positive, 10,900 were negative and 4,500 are still pending.

With the 179 new cases reported today, the national toll of positive cases stood at 3,662 while the number of fatalities thus far stood at 61. – April 5, 2020.