KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 18): Failure to observe standard operating procedures (SOPs) has been blamed for the spread of Covid-19 among people from the Tawar and Sala clusters in Kedah.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said investigations showed the Tawar transmissions were a result of family members ignoring SOPs during a gathering.
For example, he said the capacity of the guests exceeded the size of the space and there was no physical distancing among attendees.
“This led to the widespread transmission from this cluster, although the index case and actual cause of infection are still being investigated,” Noor Hisham said at a media briefing today.
For the Sala cluster, Noor Hisham said the index case and family members had visited a patient in a hospital.
“Even though no Covid-19 positive cases were detected from screening at the hospital, all of the index case’s family members who went to the hospital with the index case had been tested positive for the virus.
“The virus went on to spread to close contacts of the index case and family members. It is feared that the hospital visiting may have contributed to the spread of the infection, as there are so many patients in the hospital that may carry the risk of infection,” Noor Hisham said.
He said Covid-19 transmissions involving the two clusters can be prevented if people had adhered to the SOPs such as avoiding confined and crowded spaces and also avoiding close conversation.
Malaysia’s new Covid-19 cases dropped to seven today, after six straight days of double-digit infections. The total cumulative cases in the country now stand at 9,219.
Meanwhile, active cases fell below the 200-mark to 192 today, from 211 reported yesterday.
Covid-19 fatalities remained at 125 for 19th consecutive day.