KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 18): A total of 2,913 clusters of Covid-19 infections have been identified in the country between March 28 and Aug 17, according to Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
Among the clusters of infection detected during that period, 1,549 clusters or 53.2% are workplace related while the remaining 880 are community-related clusters.
Dr Noor Hisham revealed that 133,247 people who tested positive were linked to 1,549 workplace clusters. Some 370 staff died while 32 were being treated in intensive care units (ICUs).
The economic sectors that have the most number of clusters of Covid-19 infections are manufacturing (780 clusters), service sector (260) and construction (181).
The States that have the highest number of workplace clusters are Selangor where 414 clusters were detected, Johor (322) and Kuala Lumpur (149).
Festive celebrations and family visits cause of resurgence of new cases
As for the community clusters detected in the five-month period, some 58,776 individuals tested positive, including 417 who died, according to Dr Noor Hisham.
He noted that the spike in infections in community clusters were due to family visits, festive celebrations and communities in longhouses.
Kelantan reported the highest number of community clusters at 239, followed by Sarawak (171) and Sabah (94).
Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 cases hit a new high of 22,242 on Wednesday [Aug 18], after declining below the 20,000 mark for two straight days.
The previous record high of daily cases was 21,668 posted on Aug 12. This is the sixth time the country has recorded more than 20,000 daily Covid-19 cases.
Consequently, active cases which carry high transmission risks climbed to 254,484 — marking 16 straight days of staying above the 200,000 level — up nearly 25% from 203,664 as of Aug 3.
Dr Noor Hisham also reported 225 fatalities linked to the coronavirus — involving 198 Malaysians and 27 foreigners. The country’s death toll is at 13,302.