Covid-19: 354 new cases, six deaths in Sabah

COVID-19 | The Health Ministry has reported 354 new cases of Covid-19 and six deaths, all in Sabah, with more patients requiring intensive care today.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that 274 new cases (77.4 percent) were detected in Sabah as a result of increased screening in seven districts under lockdown.

In Selangor, there were 24 cases, while Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya had eight and two new cases respectively. 

Noor Hisham noted that these three areas accounted only for 10.2 percent of new total cases.

Kedah and Sarawak reported 10 cases each. According to Noor Hisham, the drop in new cases in Kedah was a result of the ministry's success in handling the Tembok cluster.

As for Sarawak, seven out of 10 new cases involved recent travel to Sabah, while the remaining three were attributed to the existing Sintok cluster.

Penang reported eight new infections, of which seven were linked to the Remand Prison cluster. Johor and Terengganu reported five cases respectively, followed by Negeri Sembilan (four), Perak (one) and Labuan (one).

The total number of active cases as of noon today was at 3,863 - the highest on record.

Three new clusters

The Tawau, Semporna and Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu all reported two new deaths each, all involving Malaysians.

Currently, 68 patients require intensive care, up eight from the day before. Of the number, 25 patients are on ventilator support.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry declared three new clusters.

In Sabah, the index case for the Atap cluster was a person who reported symptoms to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu.

Three of the index case's close contacts so far were detected to have Covid-19.

In Perak, the index cases for the Bah Lada cluster involved a person from the Hilir Perak district and another from the Perak Tengah district.

Both returned from Sabah recently. Four of their close contacts have tested positive for Covid-19.

In Terengganu, the index cases for the Bah Sahabat cluster included a person from the Kuala Nerus district and another from the Marang district.

Ten of their close contacts have tested positive and 44 test results are pending.

Noor Hisham conducted his daily briefing today while under home quarantine. He took five questions, which are:

- Are we in a better position to control the current "third wave" compared to previous waves?

- The number of cases detected through community screening of sporadic cases in the country looks to be on the rise. Most of the cases were in Sabah. Is this trend a concern for the Health Ministry?

- Observation on the ground, patients that are discharged no longer need to be tested negative. Is this true?

- An Indian national who was quarantined for two weeks in Kuala Lumpur eventually tested positive when he finally arrived in Miri, Sarawak. Was this because the second test in Kuala Lumpur was the RTK-antigen test?

- Are there any delays in processing test results, especially among those returning from Sabah? Are labs bogged down by backlogs?

Media organisations are required to submit questions by 3pm every day to the Health Ministry.

Noor Hisham answered Malaysiakini's question on the efficacy of recording personal movement details yesterday but did not answer the sole question posed today which is as follows:

"How many schools have had pupils tested positive for Covid-19 so far? Have any pupils who tested positive spread Covid-19 in schools?" 

Keep up with the latest information on the outbreak in the country with Malaysiakini's free Covid-19 tracker.

Malaysiakini is providing free access to the most important updates on the coronavirus pandemic. You can find them here.

Help keep independent media alive - subscribe to Malaysiakini.