New Covid-19 cases hit triple digits again, mostly detected at immigration depots

CORONAVIRUS | Malaysia has recorded a spike of 172 new Covid-19 cases today, most of which are detected at three immigration detention facilities in the country.

Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said of the 172 cases, five were imported, while 159 cases involved non-citizens. Of the non-citizens, 112 cases were detected at the immigration depots.

“Members of the public need not worry because these immigration depots are places isolated from the public and controlled by the authorities.

“There are eight local citizens who tested positive today,” he said at his daily media briefing in Putrajaya today.

Malaysia had recorded a double-digit number of daily new cases for the past 21 days.

The last time Malaysia recorded a triple-digit number of cases was on May 3 with 122 cases detected over a 24-hour period up to noon that day.

Noor Hisham today said 1,757 people (1,630 detainees and 127 staff) have been tested at the Semenyih immigration depot so far of which 66 tested positive, 753 tested negative while the results for 938 tests are still pending.

Of the 66 confirmed cases in Semenyih, 17 new cases were reported today including an administrative staff member there.

At the Sepang immigration depot, Noor Hisham said 1,449 samples had been taken up to noon today of which 36 tested positive including 29 new cases.

So far, 540 have tested negative and 873 are pending results.

As for the Bukit Jalil immigration depot, Noor Hisham said 1,536 people have been sampled (1,422 detainees and 114 staff), of which 126 cases have tested positive, 514 cases tested negative, and 896 samples pending results.

Altogether, the 227 cases at the three immigration depots involve13 nationalities.

They comprise citizens from Bangladesh (53), India (41), Indonesia (38), Myanmar (37), Pakistan (28), China (17), Cambodia (4), Nepal (3) Sri Lanka (2), Philippines (1), Libya (1), Egypt (1) and Syria (1).

Noor Hisham said contract tracing efforts are underway to contain the spread of the disease.

“The Health Ministry will continue to cooperate with the Immigration Department, the police and other government agencies to handle the Covid-19 cases involving immigration detention depots,” he said.

Outside of the depots, Noor Hisham said a new cluster had been detected at a construction site in Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile, he said 34 Covid-19 patients had recovered and were discharged in the 24-hour period up to noon today, bringing the total discharges to 5,979 (89.6 percent of total confirmed cases).

This means Malaysia still has 1,323 active Covid-19 cases. Eight patients are being treated in intensive care units of which four require respiratory support.

No new deaths have been reported today thus the death toll remains at 115.