Roman Catholic groups in Johor on Health Ministry's targeted approach list
CORONAVIRUS | Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham said the government is including Roman Catholic groups in Johor in its targeted approach list to screen for Covid-19 infections after an outbreak within the community from the Ulu Tiram cluster.
"The Health Ministry's concern now is, we're looking at the Roman Catholic community in Johor, we will be conducting a targeted approach on Roman Catholic groups in Johor...
CORONAVIRUS | Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham said the government is including Roman Catholic groups in Johor in its targeted approach list to screen for Covid-19 infections after an outbreak within the community from the Bukit Tiram cluster.
"The Health Ministry's concern now is, we're looking at the Roman Catholic community in Johor, we will be conducting a targeted approach on Roman Catholic groups in Johor.
"We are conducting surveillance and are including Roman Catholic groups (in Johor) in our targeted approach (list) as we did with the tahfiz schools and tabligh groups in the past," he told a press conference in Putrajaya today.
The Health Ministry zooms in on specific group for screening if they are deemed to be vulnerable based on the Covid-19 situation and have included old folks’ homes, markets, migrant workers, tahfiz schools and tabligh groups for screening.
The Bukit Tiram cluster, which started at a clergy centre in Johor, has a total of 10 cases. It was first reported on July 25. No new cases have been reported since Aug 1.
However, the Health Ministry is on alert. One of the infected people had travelled to multiple states before his Covid-19 infection was discovered.
The person had close contacts in Johor, Malacca, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Terengganu.
The latest infection from the cluster on Aug 1 was in Selangor, where the infected person had stayed at a friend's house and infected the host. The rest are in Johor.
Noor Hisham said the source of infection is still under investigation but said there was a high likelihood that the index case may have been a clergy student (Case 8,887) who returned from the Philippines on July 12.
The head of the clergy centre (Case 8,893) subsequently became infected and had attended various religious events from July 15 to July 20.
Masses cancelled
The Diocese of Malacca Johore cancelled all masses in Malacca and Johor.
The Malacca Johore Diocese Bishop Rev Bernad Paul had said mass will only resume after everyone who had come in contact with the clergyman is traced.
The clergy centre head had, among others, attended mass and a monthly gathering of clergymen.
In late February, a mass tabligh gathering at the Sri Petaling mosque became the epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia and sent the country into a partial lockdown on March 18.
The Tabligh cluster was only contained after more than three months.
The religious gathering, which took place from Feb 27 to March 3, was attended by some 16,000 people including 1,500 foreigners from across the globe.
It went on to infect 3,375 people, including 2,550 Malaysians.
To date, Malaysia recorded 9,001 Covid-19 cases, the vast majority of whom have recovered.
Only 208 Covid-19 patients are under treatment and there have been 125 deaths.
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