Health DG: Sri Petaling cluster could be resolved within weeks
CORONAVIRUS | The country's largest Covid-19 cluster - the Sri Petaling tabligh gathering - could be resolved in a week or two, said Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
There was only one positive case left from the cluster, he said at a briefing in Putrajaya today.
CORONAVIRUS | The country's largest Covid-19 cluster - the Sri Petaling tabligh gathering - could be resolved in a week or two, said Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
There was only one positive case left from the cluster, he said at a briefing in Putrajaya today.
"Over 16,000 people had gathered in this event, where 1,500 of them came from overseas. And (when we learned about the event), most of the participants had already returned to their respective hometowns.
"However, collective efforts by all parties had managed to detect the spread of Covid-19 among the tabligh participants, which so far has involved a total of 34 deaths.
"We hope that in one or two weeks, we will be able to end the surveillance and monitoring of the Sri Petaling gathering cluster. This is a success from the joint cooperation between the ministry and other agencies," he added.
Earlier, Noor Hisham said that as of 12 noon today, a total of 3,375 cases involving the cluster was recorded.
From the number, 3,340 patients fully recovered while 34 others succumbed to the virus. This left one active case from the cluster.
According to the ministry's standard operating procedure (SOP), an infection cluster can only be declared as inactive 28 days after the last reported positive case.
The Sri Petaling cluster was only detected by the health authority after eight days the gathering ended on March 1.
The ministry was only made aware that there was a positive case of Covid-19 on March 9 when Noor Hisham’s Brunei counterpart informed him about it.
It had since spread to five generations of infection.
Noor Hisham praised the tabligh community for their cooperation throughout the authorities' operation to trace the spread of the virus.
"We also received good cooperation from the tabligh community in getting them to come forward for testing.
"This shows that close cooperation between the government and the public can help to curb the spread of Covid-19," he said.
Meanwhile, asked on six voters who were found to have symptoms during the Chini by-election in Pahang on Saturday, Noor Hisham said tests conducted on them have returned negative.
"They have managed to cast their votes. And what is important is that none of them tested positive (with Covid-19)."
To a question about foreigners who want to seek treatment at private hospitals, he said they need to liaise with the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC).
"The private hospitals they want to go to for treatment must also agree to accept them first. Then only it can be facilitated by MHTC."
According to Noor Hisham, the mandatory Covid-19 test on all foreign workers before they are allowed to start work has detected another case.
One of the five new cases reported today involved a foreigner who works for a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur.
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