KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 23): Another COVID-19 cluster has been detected in Sabah with three confirmed infections.

The Udin cluster in Tawau is the eighth active cluster in the State after the Benteng Lahad Datu (LD), Laut, Pulau, Bakau, Selamat, Kuarters and Bangau-Bangau clusters.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the cluster’s index case was a 72-year-old Malaysian woman who tested positive during a screening of senior citizens at the Merotai health clinic in Tawau on Sept 12.

Following this, close contacts were screened and two more positive cases were detected yesterday, he said in a statement.

“The two positive cases involved Filipinos. They were asymptomatic and have been admitted to the Tawau Hospital for treatment,” said Dr Noor Hisham.

However, the source of the infections is still being investigated, he said.

As of noon today, 128 individuals from the cluster have been screened, with three people testing positive for COVID-19, 71 testing negative, while 54 others are awaiting their results.

Sabah accounts for 1,323 of the 10,505 COVID-19 cases reported in the country since the pandemic began in early January.

Due to the rising number of cases in the State, the Health Ministry has increased the capacity of laboratories that can conduct reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests.

The total daily testing capacity of COVID-19 samples across Sabah has been increased to 2,500 tests per day, said Dr Noor Hisham.

He said if the COVID-19 tests in Sabah rises beyond 2,500 per day, the remaining COVID-19 samples will be sent to Peninsular Malaysia for testing.

Malaysia’s new COVID-19 infections climbed to 147 today, from 82 yesterday.

Three new fatalities were reported, raising the country’s death toll to 133.

The number of active cases stands at 770, compared with 665 yesterday, after 39 patients were discharged in the latest 24-hour period.