By PETALING JAYA: Thirteen new Covid-19 cases were reported by the health ministry today, pushing the total number of infected patients nationwide to 9,083 with 174 still active.
Four of the new cases were local transmissions – two linked to the Sivagangga cluster and another two from new clusters detected in Perak and Putrajaya.
The other nine were imported cases involving Malaysians and foreigners entering the country from China, India and Japan (two each) and Ireland, Indonesia and Yemen (one each).
In a statement today, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said nine patients have recovered, bringing the total number of patients discharged so far to 8,784.
He said one patient is being treated in the intensive care unit (ICU), without needing respiratory assistance.
No new deaths related to Covid-19 were reported, with the toll remaining at 125
Noor Hisham said of the four local cases today, three were detected in Penang, with two linked to the Sivagangga cluster and one linked to the new Kurau cluster in Perak.
“The second case (from the Kurau cluster) was traced following active case detection and close contact screenings. Following this development, the patient’s entire family (of five) in Penang has been screened,” he said.
He said 115 close contacts have been screened so far, with 106 testing negative and nine awaiting test results.
Meanwhile, the Meranti cluster in Putrajaya was detected after a health worker (patient No. 9,083) tested positive yesterday. The patient was in close contact with patient No. 8,968, who was detected in a pre-operation screening on July 31.
Investigations found that patient No. 8,968 had received treatment from a medical facility that patient No. 9,083 worked in.
Close contact screenings and active case detection work is ongoing, with 15 individuals screened so far. The source of the infection is being probed.–FMT
