INVESTIGATIONS are ongoing to determine whether there is a link between the Sungai and Telaga healthcare facility clusters, director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.

The Telaga cluster was detected at a public healthcare facility in Kedah while the Sungai cluster was discovered at the Kedah Medical Centre, which is a private healthcare facility.

“As of now, the data does not point to a link between the two clusters.

“However, looking at the way the virus has spread… (and) given the high infectivity rate, we suspect that there could be a link to the Tawar and Sivagangga clusters,” he said.

There were 79 cases reported in the Tawar cluster, which originated at a memorial service in Kedah. The cluster went on to spread across state lines to Penang.

The Sivagangga cluster, which went on to infect 45 people, was discovered after an overseas returnee had violated quarantine orders.

The Institute of Medical Research is studying the genotype of the Sungai and Telaga clusters, Noor Hisham said.

To date, 1,585 people have been screened for the Sungai cluster, where 83 were tested positive.

The Sungai cluster was discovered when a health worker was tested positive for Covid-19 on September 5.

As for the Telaga cluster, 4,626 people were screened, of which 59 were Covid-19 positive.

This cluster was discovered at the Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah, involving two healthcare staff who were not involved in caring for Covid-19 patients. – September 10, 2020.