THE Health Ministry has discovered eight new clusters of Covid-19 infections, which brought the total number of active clusters to 133, Health Director General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.

The eight clusters collectively contributed to 181 cases of the country’s 799 cases today.

The Rumah Merah cluster which was one of the three clusters reported in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, was discovered at a temporary detention centre.

The cluster of 57 infections was discovered after the index patient tested positive on October 28 after experiencing symptoms.

All positive cases are currently being treated at the Isolation Block of the Menggatal Temporary Detention Centre.

The other two clusters discovered in Kota Kinabalu were the Telipok and Sembulan clusters, which collectively contributed 22 cases.

The Telipok cluster was discovered after the index case underwent screening at the workplace.

Apart from Sabah, new clusters were also discovered in Selangor, Johor, Labuan and Negeri Sembilan.

The Titian Cluster in Labuan was discovered following a  targeted screening exercise on high risk groups  in Kampung Muslim.  A total of 464 individuals were screened, of whom 11 tested positive. 

The test results of another 40 individuals came back negative while the remaining 413 are still waiting for their results.

Meanwhile, the screening of healthcare staff in Negeri Sembilan led to the discovery of the Gala cluster.

All eight positive cases have been warded  at the Tuanku Jaafar Hospital for treatment. A total of 139 people were screened for this cluster and 98 of them tested negative for the coronavirus.

The Meldrum cluster in Johor as well as the Merpati and Astaka clusters in Selangor were the three other clusters reported today.

The Merpati cluster began with a workplace screening and has 45 infections out of 116 people screened as of today.

The Astaka cluster began with an index case who went for screening after experiencing symptoms, and has 32 infections as of today out of 114 people screened.

Both clusters are spread across Petaling, Hulu Selangor and Kuala Selangor.

The Meldrum cluster in Johor is spread across Johor Baru, Kota Tinggi and Bangkok, and began with an individual who had symptoms and tested positive. There are now six positive cases in this cluster. – October 30, 2020.