17 July 2020
The Health Ministry announced 18 new Covid-19-positive cases as of 12pm today, bringing the total number of infections in the nation to 8,755.
“Of that number, only 92 cases are considered active. Three cases are being treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), with one needing ventilation assistance,“ said Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (pix) in a press statement today.
He also said that three cases have since recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 8,541.
There were also no deaths reported today, and the total number of fatalities remains at 122.
Meanwhile, Noor Hisham said out of the 18 new cases reported, 10 were import cases involving seven Malaysians and three foreigners allowed to enter Malaysia on business purposes.
“The eighth local transmission case involved six Malaysians and two foreigners,“ he said.
He also announced that there exists four new clusters that has been identified today.
The first cluster involves a Malaysian who returned from Nigeria on July 11, and the tested negative at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). However, three days after reaching Malaysia, the patient underwent repeated screening for Covid-19 because he was experiencing symptoms.
The patient was confirmed positive and was admitted in Hulu Terengganu Hospital. From there, 44 close contacts, including family, passengers and flight crew, taxi driver and colleagues were identified and screened.
“From the number, two tested positive, three tested negative, while the remaining 39 await for results,“ he said.
The second cluster involves an index case involving a foreigner belonging to the professional group that came to Malaysia on July 6, on official business. The foreigner’s swab test at India and in KLIA were negative.
“Five days after reaching Malaysia, the foreigner needed to conduct a repeat screen test after experiencing symptoms on July 11, and tested positive. The foreigner was admitted to the Sungai Buloh Hospital for treatment,“ said Noor Hisham.
For now, two close contacts have been identified, with one testing positive and another negative.
The third cluster involves an asymptomatic frontliner who tested positive on July 14 and was admitted to the Sarawak General Hospital.
“For now, one positive case has been detected among 26 close contact involving family members and colleagues. The rest are negative. The positive case involves a colleague from a medical centre in Kuching,“ he said.
The fourth cluster involves a foreigner, who is a ship crew with a history of travelling to Japan and Singapore. The foreigner started experiencing symptoms on July 3, and it worsened on July 11 in Sarawak waters.
“The foreigner was admitted to the medical centre and a test returned positive.
The foreigner was then moved to Bintulu Hospital, Sarawak,“ he said.
So far, 29 close contact have been identified from the ship and all are crew members. Two of them tested positive and with the remainder negative.
“This cluster is an import and isolated cluster so the community is not exposed to it, but the case requires immediate medical attention and was brought to the medical centre and hospital,“ said Noor Hisham.
Source: thesundaily.my
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