THE number of infections from Covid-19 have dropped from triple-digit levels over the past two days because detained migrant workers who were infected have been isolated and are being treated, said Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

The country recorded 15 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, a drop from 187 new cases reported yesterday and 172 the previous day.

Of the 15 new infections today, six are imported.

“This means we have nine cases of local transmissions today, bringing down local cases to single-digit levels,” Noor Hisham told a press conference today.
 
The rise in new infections was due to active detection carried out by the Health Ministry at Immigration detention centres in Bukit Jalil, Semenyih and Sepang.

“The results were from the targeted approach by the government,” said Noor Hisham.

He, however, said the ministry has yet to pinpoint the source of the infections at the detention centres.

“We are still investigating. We have a few assumptions and we are looking at some theories, but we are not yet able to point to the cause of the infections,” he said, adding that infected patients have been isolated and quarantined at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park (Maeps) temporary hospital in Serdang.

A total of 4,752 detainees and healthcare workers at all three immigration centres have been tested, with only 13 cases pending results, Noor Hisham said. 

“Again, we would like to learn from this experience to prevent from occurring at other centres or other places. We need to look at accommodations of some of our workers, if there is a risk of infection. Not just Covid-19, but TB (tuberculosis and other infection diseases can spread in confined spaces.

“We need to look at short-term and long-term solutions to resolve this problem, especially for foreign workers. We have to change the norm from how we did things in the past.”

Noor Hisham said the decline in localised Covid-19 cases is in line with a forecast by the ministry and is the result of movement restrictions imposed by the government since March 18.

“This decrease is also assisted by public adherence to norms and new norms, as well as the standard operating procedure (SOP) set for various sectors and industries.

“It shows that the CMCO (conditional movement control order) works. Despite the easing of movement restrictions, we can achieve single digits. So, that is good.”

Noor Hisham, however, added that the ministry is monitoring any possible increase in Covid-19 cases following the movement of the public across state borders as well as from social interactions during the Hari Raya holidays. – May 27, 2020.