This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on April 8, 2020

KUALA LUMPUR: The health ministry (MoH) has found 69 positive Covid-19 cases that could not be traced to any clear source of infection and do not appear related to any of the identified main clusters of infections.

Also known as “sporadic cases”, MoH director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the number is small, compared with the total confirmed cases of 3,963 yesterday. “We don’t know how they got the infection,” he told reporters yesterday.

These cases were discovered from the ministry’s field screening of 8,025 samples. The remaining 7,956 tested negative.

The screenings were mostly done on patients with influenza-like illnesses and severe acute respiratory infections (Sari) as Sari patients could potentially be tested positive for Covid-19 later.

Noor Hisham also reiterated that frontline medical workers should treat all those diagnosed with Sari at clinics and hospitals as Covid-19 positive cases until tests prove otherwise.

Among the main infection clusters identified so far are a tabligh assembly in Seri Petaling, a church event in Kuching, a wedding in Bandar Baru Bangi, as well as Malaysians returning from high-risk countries.

On the tabligh assembly, Noor Hisham provided updates such as 20,035 people having been tested so far, involving the gathering’s participants and those who had contact with them.

Of these, 1,657 came back positive and 13,744 negative, with 4,634 still waiting for results. This cluster now accounts for about 42% of the country’s total Covid-19 cases.

Noor Hisham further explained five categories of Covid-19 infections: Category 1 for positive cases with no symptoms; Category 2 — positive cases with mild symptoms; Category 3 — positive cases with pneumonia; Category 4 — pneumonia cases requiring oxygen; and Category 5 — cases requiring breathing assistance.

“In Malaysia, 88% of confirmed Covid-19 cases fall into Categories 1 and 2, 7% in Category 3 and only 5% in Categories 4 and 5. Patients under intensive care units make up about 10% globally, compared with less than 5% in Malaysia,” he added.