KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 14): Malaysia's active cases, which have been climbing for the past nine days, surpassed the 600-mark again today, with 615 recorded — the highest since June. The last time Malaysia reported more active cases was June 16, when the active tally stood at 651.
This came as the country confirmed 31 new Covid-19 cases today, more than the seven recoveries recorded in the last 24 hours. This raised the country's total confirmed infections to 9,946, with total recoveries at 9,203 or 92.5% of total cases. No new fatalities were recorded, hence the death toll remained at 128 or 1.29% of the total.
Of the 31 new cases today, 28 involved local transmissions — 19 of which were Malaysians and nine foreigners — while the remaining three cases were imported infections, according to Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
Among the locally transmitted cases, 23 were found in Sabah, with 17 under the Benteng Lahad Datu (LD) cluster.
The remaining five locally transmitted cases were detected in Negeri Sembilan and Kedah — four from the Bunga cluster in Negeri Sembilan as well as one case from the Sungai cluster in Kedah.
As for the three imported cases, Noor Hisham said they originated from Indonesia. Two were detected in Sabah involving Malaysians who returned from Indonesia, and one was found in Kuala Lumpur involving an Indonesian citizen who entered the country on Aug 31.
Updates on Benteng LD, Bunga and Sungai clusters
According to the Health Ministry, 5,402 individuals have been screened under the Benteng LD cluster, of which 420 individuals tested positive — 185 Malaysians and 235 foreigners. Of the foreigners, 153 involved citizens from the Philippines while 82 of them were from Indonesia.
As for the Bunga cluster that involves the crew of a ship docked at Port Dickson, some 59 individuals have been screened and four new cases were detected today through a second sampling of the crew. This raised the total confirmed infections under this cluster to 10.
The Sungai cluster, meanwhile, has screened 16,775 individuals, with total positive cases now at 58.