Semenyih Immigration Depot Hit With Second Covid 19 Outbreak

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COVID-19 | Malaysia has reported 11 new cases of Covid-19 today, including a fresh outbreak at the Semenyih Immigration Detention Depot (IDD)
The Semenyih IDD Cluster 2 accounts for two of the four locally transmitted cases reported today, while imported cases account for the remaining seven new cases
This is the second time the detention facility in Semenyih has been hit with a Covid-19 outbreak
In a statement today, Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the index case is a detainee at the facility who was about to be deported to his home country
Case 9,302 was tested for Covid-19 prior to deportation and was found to be positive on Aug 27
“The second and third cases of this cluster (namely Case 9,382 and Case 9,384) are immigration officers at the IDD who escorted the index case to a health clinic for Covid-19 screening. They are two of the four immigration officers who escorted the index case
“Following this, active case detection and contact tracing have been initiated
“The source of the infection is still being investigated,” he said, adding that 269 people have been screened so far
Of these, three people tested positive, 123 tested negative, and 143 are still pending results
They include 134 detainees, 129 staff members at the IDD, and six family members of the staff
Noor Hisham urged frontliners of various agencies to take precautionary measures at all times when handling positive or suspected Covid-19 cases, as well as patients under investigation
Earlier this year, several IDDs throughout the country were hit with Covid-19 outbreaks amid a crackdown on undocumented migrants, including the one in Semenyih
The monitoring period for the first Semenyih IDD cluster ended on June 21 after no new cases were detected for 28 days. By then, 66 people had tested positive for the disease out of 1,785 tested (3.7 percent), though no fatalities were reported
The Bukit Jalil IDD cluster, which emerged at about the same time as the Semenyih IDD cluster, is still active with 653 cases so far including one death. It is currently the largest active cluster, followed by the Tawar cluster with 78 cases
Meanwhile, Noor Hisham said pre-deportation screening also revealed another new Covid-19 case, involving a detainee at a temporary detention centre in Beranang, Selangor
In addition, one new case was reported in the Telaga cluster in Kedah. Case 9,385 is a 36-year-old hospital worker based in Gajah Mati, Pokok Sena
As of noon today, 2,743 people have been screened in the cluster. Of these, eight tested positive, 2,081 tested negative, and 654 tests are still pending
As for the seven imported cases, Noor Hisham said they involved two Malaysians and five foreigners
The infections originated from India (five cases), Saudi Arabia (one) and the UK (one)
Meanwhile, nine patients have recovered and have been discharged today
The total number of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia is now 9,385, of which 165 are still active. The death toll is unchanged at 128
Four people are being treated in intensive care units and three of them require ventilator support
- Mkini

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