COVID-19: New cases back to double digits - Health DG

PUTRAJAYA, July 4 -- Malaysia’s daily COVID-19 new case tally returned to double digits today after 10 cases were reported overnight. 

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said out of the 10, seven were imported cases, involving Malaysians who were infected abroad.

“Of the three local transmissions, one was a foreign national detainee in Seremban who had undergone screening before being transferred to prison.

“Among Malaysians, meanwhile, one positive case was reported in Kuala Lumpur during pre-surgery screening at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz (HCTM), and this patient has been transferred to the Sungai Buloh Hospital,” he said in a statement on COVID-19 developments today. 

The other local transmission was detected in Sabah in which a health worker tested positive during screening upon completion of duty at a quarantine centre in Likas.

Dr Noor Hisham said this latest development brings Malaysia’s COVID-19 infection tally to 8,658 cases, with active cases at 76. 

The total number of COVID-19 recoveries is now at 97.7 percent or 8,461 cases, including 15 cases reported today, he said, adding that the death toll remains at 121 cases or 1.39 percent of the overall case tally after no new deaths were reported. 

“There are two cases being treated in the intensive care unit (ICU), with both requiring ventilator support,” he said.

In a separate development, he said the observation period for the Pudu Cluster, a residential cluster in Kuala Lumpur that was detected after the screening of a construction site worker, ended today. 

“The first case for this cluster was detected on May 10 after workers at this construction site were screened.

“Until July 3, a total of 3,387 people were screened and 80 of them tested positive for COVID-19 (2.36 percent). A total of 97.5 percent from this cluster were non-Malaysians,” he said.

He said they comprised 69 Bangladeshis, seven Myanmar nationals, two Indonesians and two Malaysians. 

-- BERNAMA