Covid-19 (March 18): 1,213 new cases, 3 deaths

COVID-19 | The Health Ministry reported 1,213 new Covid-19 cases today and three deaths.

Non-citizens accounted for 28.5 percent of new cases. Selangor, with 353, is the state with the highest number of new infections, followed closely by 303 cases in Sarawak.

The cases in Sarawak today were partly spurred by the newly detected Semuja Immigration Depot cluster in the Serian district, in which 99 people have been infected so far.

• Active cases: 14,782
• Patients in ICUs: 155
• Intubated: 54

Deaths

The three deaths were each recorded in Sarawak, Sabah, and Kelantan. All of them were Malaysians.

Except for the death involving a 59-year-old woman in Sarawak, the deceased persons had comorbidities.

The national death toll now stands at 1,223 people.

Details of the victims are on Malaysiakini's Covid-19 tracker page.

Clusters

The Health Ministry is tracking 428 active clusters today, including nine new ones. 

Of the nine new clusters, one involved the Semuja Immigration Detention Depot in Serian, Sarawak. Three are community clusters, while the remaining five are workplace clusters.

The Semuja Immigration Depot cluster is also the cluster with the most number of new cases today (99), followed by the Jalan Wawasan Sembilan cluster in Johor (47), and the Jalan Harapan Prison cluster (32) involving several states.

Overall, 66 clusters have reported new cases, while monitoring for 10 clusters have ceased after no new cases were found for 28 consecutive days.

Details of the new clusters are as follows:

Tapak Bina Persiaran Setia cluster
District(s): Petaling, Selangor
Locality/Source: Construction site at Persiaran Setia Alam, Shah Alam
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: March 17, targeted screening
Total infected: 18 out of 100 screened

Tapak Bina Persiaran Sunsuria cluster
District(s): Sepang, Selangor
Locality/Source: Construction site at Persiaran Sunsuria, Sepang
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: Feb 14, targeted screening
Total infected: 11 out of 410 screened

Jalan Wawasan Sembilan cluster
District(s): Batu Pahat and Kluang, Johor
Locality/Source: Factory at Jalan Wawasan 9, Kawasan Perindustrian Sri Gading, Batu Pahat
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: March 12, targeted screening
Total infected: 50 out of 568 screened

Melamam cluster
District(s): Sipitang, Sabah
Locality/Source: Educational centre at Kampung Melamam, Sipitang
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: March 14, pre-admission screening at hospital
Total infected: 14 out of 164 screened

Jalan Asuhan cluster
District(s): Kerian, Perak
Locality/Source: Supermarket  near Jalan Asuhan, Parit Buntar, Kerian
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: March 16, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 12 out of 100 screened

Sungai Atap cluster
District(s): Meradong, Sarawak
Locality/Source: Sungai Atap, Bintangor
Cluster category: Community
First case: March 6, pre-employment screening
Total infected: 19 out of 148 screened

Kampung Padang Tembak cluster
District(s): Keningau, Sabah
Locality/Source: Kampung Padang Tembak, Keningau
Cluster category: Community
First case: March 8, screening prior to interstate travel
Total infected: 21 out of 216 screened

Bunga Tanjung Bendahara cluster
District(s): Kota Setar and Kuala Muda, Kedah
Locality/Source: Jalan Tanjung Bendahara, Alor Setar
Cluster category: Community
First case: March 15, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 10 out of 46 screened

Depot Imigresen Semuja cluster
District(s): Serian, Sarawak
Locality/Source: Semuja Immigration Depot, Serian
Cluster category: Detention centre
First case: March 18
Total infected: 99 out of 584 screened