KUALA LUMPUR – The number of fresh Covid-19 cases has breached the 3,000 mark for the first time in a week today, said Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
He said the 3,297 infections reported today bring the nation’s caseload to 283,569, while the death toll now stands at 1,056, including five fatalities today.
The country also logged 4,456 recoveries today, bringing the total discharged to 248,209.
Six of the new cases are imported.
Dr Noor Hisham said out of the 33,304 active cases, 209 are in intensive care, while 91 require intubation.
Perak saw the highest number of new cases at 1,215, followed by Selangor (868), Johor (431), Sarawak (185), Penang (127), Kuala Lumpur (123) and Negri Sembilan (122).
Sabah recorded 85 new cases, followed by Melaka with 65; Kelantan, 30; Kedah, 15; Terengganu, 12; Pahang, nine; Putrajaya, seven; and Labuan, three.
Perlis has no new infection today.
On Twitter, Dr Noor Hisham said the spike in cases in Perak is caused by the Health Ministry’s active detection of the Jalan Changkat Jong cluster.
He said the cluster was reported on February 18 and identified based on targeted screening in workplaces, adding that it involves factory workers along Jalan Changkat Jong in Teluk Intan, Perak.
He said the cluster alone reported 1,046 cases in the state today, of which 10 are close contacts of the infected workers.
This brings the total number of cases linked to the cluster to 1,242.
Dr Noor Hisham said 124 new cases reported today are related to detention centres involving the following clusters: Tembok Tapah (50 cases), Tembok Bendera (42), Tembok Sg Udang (18), Telok Mas (five), Sg Jelok Prison (five), Tembok Bukit Besi (two), and DTI Sepang 2 (two).
Selangor and Terengganu each recorded two deaths today, while Kuala Lumpur saw one death.
Out of the five fatalities, one was a non-citizen, said Dr Noor Hisham.
He said the country has so far seen 1,074 clusters, including six new clusters today.
A total of 564 clusters have ended, including six today. They are the Mikro, Tasik Utama, Titian, Jalan Wangsa construction site, Kota Road, and Tanjung Lumpur clusters.
He added that 510 clusters are currently active, of which 82 saw new infections today.
The clusters with the highest new cases today are the Jalan Changkat Jong cluster (1,046 cases), Industri Selesa cluster (171), and Tanjung Suria cluster (97).
Dr Noor Hisham said all of the six new clusters reported today are workplace clusters.
Johor had five new clusters comprising the Jalan Kota Kulai cluster in Kulai with 31 cases, Jalan Cemerlang Besi in Johor Baru with 31 cases, Jalan Kelapa Mawar in Batu Pahat with 16 cases, Jalan Pandan Ria in Johor Baru with 13 cases, and Jalan Persiaran Cemerlang in Johor Baru with 12 cases.
Penang logged the Perusahaan Baru cluster in Seberang Perai with 24 cases, Dr Noor Hisham added. – The Vibes, February 21, 2021
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