KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The number of new COVID-19 positive cases returned to a single digit with seven cases recorded today, namely four imported and three local transmissions.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this brought the total number of positive cases to 9,219 and the number of active cases to 192.
He said the new cases in the country involved three local cases in Kedah, namely two from the Sala Cluster and one from the Tawar Cluster.
“The four imported cases involved two Malaysians and two non-citizens, three cases are from Bangladesh and one from the United Kingdom,” he said at a press conference on the development of COVID-19 today.
Dr Noor Hisham said there were 26 cases who had recovered from the virus today, bringing the cumulative number of recovered cases to 8,902 (96.4 per cent of the total number of cases).
There are also so far eight positive cases of COVID-19 being treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with two cases requiring respiratory support.
According to Dr Noor Hisham, no increase in COVID-19-related deaths were recorded today, keeping the death toll at 125.
On the Tawar Cluster, he said with the addition of the new cases, the number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 for the cluster was currently 47.
“As of 12 pm today, 1,490 people have been screened in this cluster, namely 1,195 individuals have been screened in Kedah with 40 cases testing positive, 858 negative and 297 individuals still waiting for results.
“In Penang, 286 people were screened, and seven tested positive, 216 individuals tested negative and 63 were still waiting for the results while in Perak, nine people were screened all of whom tested negative,” he said.
Meanwhile, for the Sala Cluster, two other individuals were reported positive, bringing the total to eight cases.
He said 635 people had been screened for COVID-19 under this cluster. From this number, 629 were screened in Kedah with eight individuals testing positive, 479 tested negative and 142 were still awaiting results, while in Penang six people were screened with four testing negative and two others still waiting for results .
Elaborating on the source of infection for the Tawar and Sala clusters, Dr Noor Hisham said investigation into the positive cases found that a number of common factors had contributed to the spread of the infection for both clusters.
“The spread of infection in the Tawar Cluster was found to be contributed by gatherings among family members who did not fully comply with the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).
“For example, guest numbers did not correspond to the size capacity of the area, with no physical distancing between the people. The index patient and cause of infection are still under investigation.
For the Sala Cluster, the index case has a history of visiting a patient at a hospital with several family members.
“Although there was no COVID-19 cases detected from the screenings at the hospital, but all family members who went there with the index case were confirmed positive,” he said.
He said the infection had then spread to close contacts of the index patient and family members.
“It is feared that visiting hospitals may contribute to the spread of infection as in the hospital there are many patients and this invites the risk of infection,” he said.
Dr Noor Hisham said transmission could have been reduced in both clusters by avoiding the 3Cs, namely confined space, crowded space and close conversation.
“If there is an urgent need to visit patients in the hospital, make sure that precautions are taken at all times such as ensuring the use of face masks during the visit and physical distancing of at least 1 metre from the patient or individuals with symptoms, besides practising personal hygiene such as washing of hands with soap and water or using hand sanitiser,” he said.
— NNN-BERNAMA
