KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 25): The five new cases of Covid-19 from the Tawar cluster in Kedah involve pupils of a primary school.
The health ministry, which reported the five cases today, said the pupils were identified through active case detection and screening of close contacts.
“Based on our investigation, we found that they had close contact with case no. 9197, who was a preschool student,” health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah told a media briefing.
He added: “The school has been closed and investigations are still ongoing. We are still conducting screening, and investigating those who have been exposed to the students. The students involved were third generation individuals [from this cluster].”
Case no. 9197 was reported by the ministry on Aug 16.
The latest five cases from the Tawar cluster bring the total number of positive cases from the cluster to 70.
Up until noon today, 3,547 individuals from the cluster had been screened including 3,018 in Kedah, 518 in Penang and 11 in Perak.
Of them, 59 individuals had tested positive for the virus in Kedah, and another 11 in Penang.
Noor Hisham reminded all schools in the country to always adhere to the standard operating procedures that have been set by the Ministry of Education and the National Security Council.
“Parents also need to play an important role in advising and educating their children regarding several practices to curb the spread of Covid-19 infections in a school bus, classroom, as well as when doing sports and co-curriculum activities,” he added.
Noor Hisham went on to remind the public to always take the coronavirus infection seriously, as other countries are already experiencing new waves of Covid-19.
Malaysia recorded 11 new Covid-19 cases as of noon today, bringing the cumulative total in the country to 9,285.
Meanwhile, the number of cured cases stand at 8,971, giving a recovery rate of 96.6%. This comes after six more Covid-19 patients recovered.
The death toll remains at 125 for the 26th straight day.
The number of active cases rose slightly to 189 from 184 yesterday, including eight patients in the intensive care unit of which six are needing respiratory assistance.
(Editing by S Kanagaraju)