Friday 29 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on April 14, 2020

KUALA LUMPUR: The ministry of health (MoH) has detected two Covid-19 sub-clusters in Kuantan involving 20 infections, one of which resulted in death.

MoH director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the index case, patient No 4,688, had a travel history to Bali, Indonesia. The person had close contact with his brother, Patient No 1,575, who died of Covid-19 on April 3.

Patient No 1,575 had infected seven persons from the second generation, who in turn infected 11 individuals from the third generation.

Noor Hisham said the MoH has conducted screening tests on 339 individuals identified, including 202 healthcare workers.

He told a press briefing yesterday that the two sub-clusters were detected through a targeted approach by the MoH, by detecting, screening and testing the high-risk groups.

He said the persons under investigation (PUIs) in the Bali cluster involved a group of patients and several healthcare workers from a medical centre in Kuantan.

Of the 20 PUIs, three healthcare workers have been identified as being infected by people who are related to the cluster.

Fourteen patients are being treated at the Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital in Kuantan, three of whom are in the intensive care unit while two others have recovered. One patient (Patient No 1,575) died.

In total, Noor Hisham said the MoH has identified 25 main clusters and sub-clusters of Covid-19 infections nationwide.

The Seri Petaling tabligh assembly cluster is the biggest, representing over 40% of the total number of infections in the country. Other main clusters include the church gathering in Kuching, the “Italy” cluster, as well as the wedding in Bandar Baru Bangi. Other smaller clusters, however, were not disclosed by the ministry.

“We have not announced the smaller clusters, but we are monitoring them and conducting active case tracing to isolate [the positive cases] and give the best treatment to [patients in] those clusters,” Noor Hisham added.

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