By Adrian Lim
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30: Malaysia registered 17 new Covid-19 cases and one new death today.
Health Ministry director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in a press statement revealed that out of the 17 new cases, 15 cases were imported whilst two cases were local transmissions.
“For the 15 imported cases, 11 were local citizens while four were non-citizens.
“For the locals, it involved nine Malaysians returning from India and two Malaysians returning from Saudi Arabia.
“As for non-citizens, it involves three Indians in Kuala Lumpur and one Japanese in Sarawak.
“As for the local transmission cases, (there was) one in Kedah and one in Selangor with both cases involving local citizens,” he disclosed.
With these new cases, the cumulative number of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia has increased to 9,334 cases.
Dr Noor Hisham also revealed that there was a new Covid-19 fatality in Kedah involving a 75-year-old man.
The victim had diabetes and a history of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
On Aug 7, the victim had initially experienced coughing and shortness of breath. He was admitted to Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Kedah for pneumonia.
The patient was later discharged on Aug 18 but experienced coughing and shortness of breath again on Aug 21.
The patient sought treatment for the second time at Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital on Aug 24.
Dr Noor Hisham disclosed the patient’s Covid-19 swab test returned positive and his health deteriorated until his passing. He was pronounced dead on Aug 29 at 5:10pm.
The number of fatalities due to Covid-19 in Malaysia is now 126.
On another note, Dr Noor Hisham revealed that two new Covid-19 clusters have identified, which are the MV Glen Cluster in Selangor and the Telaga Cluster in Kedah.
The MV Glen Cluster is centred on a ship which docked at Port Klang. The index case was an imported case which involved a foreigner while the second case was the agent of the ship who is a local and was appointed by the shipping company.
The Health Ministry is conducting active case detection and contact tracing for the cluster.
As for the Telaga Cluster in Kedah, Dr Noor Hisham disclosed the cluster centred on healthcare workers at Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital. The healthcare workers were asymptomatic and their duties did not involve taking care of Covid-19 patients.
As at 12 pm today, a total of 374 individuals from the cluster involving close family members and staff of the hospital have been tested.
Out of these, two people have been confirmed positive for Covid-19.
Dr Noor Hisham added that there were 10 patients who recovered and were discharged from the hospitals.
There are presently 160 active cases in the country with seven patients being treated in Intensive Care Units (ICU) of various health facilities while five patients are ventilators. — DayakDaily
