Record high of 277 new Covid-19 cases, including 6 M'sians
CORONAVIRUS | The number of Covid-19 cases in the country has jumped to 277 as of noon today, pushing the total number of cases to 8,247. This is also the highest single-day increase on record.
Of this number, 271 cases were non-Malaysian citizens, including 270 cases from the Bukit Jalil Immigration Detention Depot. One other non-Malaysian case was from a construction site in Pudu.
Only six of the new cases were Malaysians, of which four were locally transmitted and two were imported cases.
Of the four locally transmitted cases, two are from the tahfiz cluster while another two were found in screenings at wet markets. Both the market cases and one tahfiz case are asymptomatic.
The four cases are located in Kajang in Selangor, Temerloh in Pahang and in Ampangan and Setul in Negeri Sembilan.
The two imported cases were Malaysians returning from Egypt and Spain respectively.
Twenty-eight patients have recovered, bringing the total cured to 6,559, meaning there are 1,573 active cases.
Six patients remain under intensive care, of which only two require ventilators.
There were no new deaths reported for the 13th consecutive day.
With the new increase, there are now 608 cases from the immigration depots, including two that have recovered.
Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the new infections were the result of a second swab being conducted on the detainees.
He said the number of cases today especially among non-Malaysians is worrying, but the detections were the result of hard work.
"This is the result of the excellent work of district health offices in the field," Noor Hisham added.
He also thanked all officers from the various agencies who had worked together with the Health Department.
Noor Hisham also reiterated for the public to comply with the movement control order (MCO).
He encouraged the public to avoid crowded places, confined spaces, and close conversations.
The director-general added that people should frequently wash their hands with soap and wear a face mask in public places.
MOH pls wake up. Sucess in dealing with Covid is measured by the total number of cases. Foreign workers are mingling with general public and pose a threat. They work in the food industry, cleaning services, security and many other sectors and have direct interface with the public. Generally, the foreigners are very casual as if they are inmune. Just take a walk in KL and u will understand what i mean. A strategy and plan is required to sceeen them. Be prepared to report hundred of cases everyday for a few months. That is going to be the new reality. There is no enforcement of social distancing in restaurants. Workers in restaurants not wearing face masks are common. Food is kept in the open exposed to droplets when customers talk over the food. There is no attempt at educating the people. I have not seen a single phamlet about Covid-19 being distributed to people. There is so much still to be done in increasing awareness. Its not just MOH's responsibility, local authorities that collect licensing fees should play their part.
Unless you can lock down all the foreign/illegal workers, it going to be VERY difficult to control the spread of covid-19.
This is real and seroius. There are so many foreigners amongst us. Scary. Have we been beating around the bush all this while? No concerted efforts have been made to screen the foreigners. Hope authorities will look into this segment of society.
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
This action cannot be undone.