WITH 5,645 people screened across three states, the Sivagangga cluster saw no new infections today, said director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

This keeps the total number of infections in the cluster, which originated in Napoh, Kedah, at 45 as of noon today.

Of the 5,645 people screened in Perlis, Kedah and Penang, 5,036 tested negative.

Noor Hisham said 563 people from both clusters were still waiting for test results.

He had said yesterday the Institute of Medical Research is studying the genomics of the virus variant of the Sivagangga cluster to determine whether it belongs to the super spreader category.

The cluster emerged as the index patient who returned from Sivagangga, India, had violated the quarantine order and transmitted the virus to the community.

Additionally, no new cases were detected in the Kurau cluster, where 180 people have been screened in Perak and Penang.

This keeps the total positive cases at five while 123 individuals tested negative. The remaining 52 individuals are awaiting results.

“Active case-tracking and contact-tracing is ongoing for the two clusters,” Noor Hisham said in a statement today.

He had previously said the spike in cases in both of these clusters could have been due to visits, especially during the recent festive season. – August 11, 2020.