The Malaysian Insight

FORTY-NINE Covid-19 clusters were detected today, along with the country’s highest ever daily tally of infections at 22,242.

Of the total, 30 clusters were linked to workplaces and contributed 1,290 cases, said Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

There were also 13 community clusters, which contributed 440 cases, five clusters involving high-risk groups, which that reported 77 cases, and one cluster at a detention centre that reported 26 cases.

Of today’s 30 workplace clusters, the largest was Industri Zon Dagang Satu Dua, which was detected after a targeted screening exercise at an industrial zone in Seberang Perai Tengah, Penang.

Its 221 infections are spread across the Seberang Perai Tengah, Seberang Perai Selatan and Seberang Perai Utara districts.

Another cluster from the workplace category, which reported a significant number of cases, was the Jalan Warisan construction site in Sepang, Selangor, which reported 216 cases.

Most of the other workplace clusters were linked to factories and construction sites.

Of the community transmission clusters, most were linked to symptomatic index cases, while three were due to visiting activities.

The three clusters, which stemmed from visits were Dah Kg Tokai in Pendang and Kota Setar, Kedah (58 cases), Kg Siram Kelantan in Pasir Mas, Kelantan (5 cases) and Kg Lubok Gon also in Pasir Mas (8 cases).

The largest community cluster today was Permata Dengkil in Sepang, Hulu Langat and Petaling, Selangor. This cluster of 139 cases was detected following a community screening exercise.

As for the high-risk clusters, they were discovered at old folks’ homes, a dialysis centre and a healthcare facility.

The biggest of these is the Jalan Residensi Pulau Pinang 2 cluster, which involved staff and patients of a hospital. There are 30 cases in this group.

Noor Hisham said there are currently 1,386 active clusters in the country. – August 18, 2021.