A NEW Covid-19 cluster involving a family of nine was identified in Kunak, Sabah.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the index case of the new Pulau cluster is a 68-year-old woman who was taken to Kunak Hospital after she was found unconscious at home.

She was referred to Tawau Hospital for heart and stroke treatment, where she was also tested for Covid-19 and found to be positive on September 13.

“She is now warded in the intensive care unit and has been given respiratory support,” he said.

“Eight more cases were identified through active case detection. All eight cases are family members of the index case,” Noor Hisham said.

Health authorities have screened 128 individuals, comprising 109 Malaysians and nine foreigners, in the Pulau cluster.

So far, 18 individuals have tested negative while 101 are awaiting their results.

Noor Hisham also said the reproduction number, or r-naught, for Sabah fell from 3.72 on September 8 to 1.7 on September 13.

Meanwhile, the r-naught for Kedah, another virus hotspot, fell from 2.63 on September 8 to 1.58 on September 13.

The r-naught indicates the number of new infections estimated to stem from a single case.

“Nevertheless, the r-naught numbers for both states remain above 1.0, which has impacted the nationwide (r-naught) value,” he said.

“There is a need to step up public health intervention so that the number can be brought down to below 1.0 and, at the same time, local transmission and spread of Covid-19 in the community can be reduced.”

In addition to strengthening border controls to prevent the entry of undocumented migrants, the ministry is also ready to conduct targeted mass screening at high-risk localities in Kunak, as well as Tawau and Lahad Datu, where the Benteng LD cluster has spread.

“If there is a high number of positive cases in that locality, then we will consider enforcing an enhanced movement control order.” 

He, however, said 90% of the cases related to the Benteng LD cases have been contained within the Lahad Datu district police station and Tawau Prison.

“We do have sporadic cases here and there, but our biggest concern is undocumented migrants because they were the index case (of the Benteng LD cluster).

“We need to step up the Benteng LD operations to ensure that undocumented migrants do not come into the country through illegal routes.”

Noor Hisham said delays in conducting Covid-19 tests on new detainees and mixing new inmates with older ones due to limited space caused the  Benteng LD cluster.

“(The) lesson is that (enforcement authorities) should comply with the SOPs, which is not to mix new detainees with old ones,” he said.

He added the new inmates should be isolated for 14 days after being detained before being housed in the same place as the older inmates.

https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/271876

The ministry has also identified areas, such as the Arena Belia Tawau and Tawau Prison Complex, as potential quarantine facilities for low-risk Covid-19 cases. – September 15, 2020.