New Covid 19 Cluster Identified In Kedah

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A new Covid-19 cluster has been identified in Kedah. - Photo by AMRAN HAMID/NSTPKUALA LUMPUR: A new Covid-19 cluster has been identified in Kedah.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the index case for the cluster, Tembok Cluster, is a 46-year-old man who is among the two deaths reported to the National Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) today.
"The victim, who is Case 11,207 patient, had underlying health issues such as diabetes, heart and kidney problems; he started showing symptoms related to the virus on Sept 21.
"The man was rushed to the Emergency Department at the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Alor Setar on Sept 28 after suffering from breathing difficulties.
"Covid-19 screening on the victim showed he was positive and he was pronounced dead at 6.15am," Dr Noor Hisham said in a statement today.
He said the ministry had initiated close contact tracing.
"As of noon today, the ministry has screened 169 individuals related to the cluster.
"At the moment, three of them tested positive for the virus. The ministry is still waiting for the test result of 166 other individuals related to the cluster," he said.
Dr Noor Hisham said investigation was on-going to identify the cause of the infection.
Other death cases reported to the CPRC today, said Dr Noor Hisham, involved a 70-year-old man who was suffering from final stage of cancer in Sabah.
The victim died at his house on Saturday (Sept 26) and his body was later taken to the Forensic Unit of the Tawau Hospital.
The test result from the Covid-19 screening ready three days later showed the victim tested positive of the virus.
On a related matter, Dr Noor Hisham said the daily new cases in the country returned to double-digit with 89 new cases reported to the ministry as of noon today. This brought the cumulative total cases in the country to 11,224 cases.
From the new cases, 86 involved local transmissions including from 84 Malaysians.
"Twenty-five of the local transmission cases had history of traveling to Sabah. This brought the total cases with traveling history to the state since Sept 20 to 88 cases," he said.
He added 35 of the local transmission cases were detected in Sabah, including nine cases related to the Bangau-Bangau Cluster and four cases related to the Benteng LD Cluster.
The remaining local transmission cases were detected in Kedah (13 cases), Selangor (10 cases), Johor (eight), Sarawak (four), Kuala Lumpur (three), Terengganu (three), Penang (two), Kelantan (two), Pahang (two), Perlis (two) and one each in Negri Sembilan, Perak, Penang and the Federal Territory of Labuan.
The cases in Kelantan involved a 17-month-old baby boy and a 25-year-old man, who are close contacts to Case 162 in the state, who had a history of traveling to Sabah between Sept 19 and Sept 22.
"A total of 1,121 active cases are still being treated at healthcare facilities nationwide.
"A total of 16 cases are being treated at the Intensive Care Units including three which require breathing assistance," he said.
Dr Noor Hisham added 28 patients had been discharged from the hospitals, bringing the total number of recoveries to 9,967. - NST

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