COVID-19 | The Health Ministry reported 629 new Covid-19 cases as of noon today as Sabah ramped up its ability to process samples from tests.

Leading indicators in brief:

Active cases = 6,329 ↑ (Rose for 11th straight day, new record set)
Patients in intensive care = 99 (unchanged)
Intubated patients = 31 (unchanged)
Deaths = 6 ↑

Of the six new deaths attributed to Covid-19, five deaths were reported in Sabah and one in Selangor.

From the case numbers, it would appear that four died very soon after being classified as confirmed Covid-19 cases.

The six casualties, all with a history of other illnesses, are as follows:

Patient '11,628', Malaysian male, 66, passed away at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
Patient '15,853', Malaysian male, 72, passed away at the Duchess of Kent Hospital, Sandakan, Sabah.
Patient '18,616', Malaysian female, 74, passed away at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Sabah.
Patient '18,617', Malaysian male, 67, passed away at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Sabah.
Patient '18,618', Malaysian male, 39, passed away at the Semporna Hospital, Sabah

Patient '18,676', foreign male, 52, passed away at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

The total number of deaths attributed to Covid-19 in the country as of noon today was 176. Between Sept 18 until noon today, Sabah has accounted for 43 of those deaths.

Sabah continued to report the highest number of new cases (498) followed by Selangor (50 new cases) and Penang (33 new cases), said Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

RMAF chipping in

Noor Hisham said the high number of new cases from Sabah had to do with the ministry's increased ability to process samples from Covid-19 tests obtained from the territory.

He said Sabah processed 3,296 samples yesterday while another 5,340 samples from the territory were processed in Peninsular Malaysia thanks to transport arrangements made by the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF).

Of the 629 new cases reported today, only two involved cases that were not transmitted locally. Of the 627 new locally-transmitted cases, 577 cases involved Malaysian citizens and 50 cases involved non-citizens.

There were 16 new cases that were attributed to recent travel from Sabah. The total number of cases that involved recent travel to Sabah was 437.

The Klang Valley territories of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, and Putrajaya contributed 9.5 percent to the total number of new cases, a large drop from 27 percent yesterday.

A breakdown of the sources of new cases are as follows:

Sabah (489 new cases)

Close contact screening - 260
Other types of screening - 158
Existing clusters - 71

Selangor (50 new cases)

Existing clusters - 6
Close contact screening - 25
Returnees from Sabah - 6
Merbok cluster (new) - 8
Other types of screening - 5

Penang (33 new cases)

Existing clusters - 32
Screening at police detention centre - 1

Labuan (19 new cases)

Returnees from Sabah - 6
Close contact screening - 3
Bundle cluster (existing) - 9
Other types of screening - 1

Kuala Lumpur (8 new cases)

Returnees from Sabah - 3
Other types of screening - 4
Close contact screening - 1

Perak (9 new cases)

Buntar cluster (new) - 5
Lekir cluster (new) - 4

Kedah (7 new cases)

Tembok cluster (existing) - 6
Symptomatic screening - 1

Johor (5 new cases)

Simera cluster (existing) - 2
Returnees from Sabah - 1
Close contact screening - 1
Symptomatic screening - 1

Malacca (3 new cases)

Utama cluster (existing) - 2
Close contact screening - 1

Putrajaya (1 new case)

Buntar cluster (new) - 1
Selasih cluster (existing) - 1

Negeri Sembilan (11 new cases)

Close contact screening - 1

Pahang (1 case)

Other types of screening - 1

There were three new clusters classified by the Health Ministry today, all in Peninsular Malaysia.

The Lekir cluster was identified in the Manjung district in Perak after the index case tested positive for Covid-19 on Oct 14. A total of six cases have been attributed to this cluster and 136 test results are still pending.

The Buntar cluster involved Kuala Muda in Kedah, the Kerian district in Perak, and the Putrajaya federal territory. The index case for this cluster reported symptoms on Oct 15 and was warded at the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Kedah.

Eight Covid-19 cases have been attributed to this cluster.

The Merbok cluster involved the Kuala Langat, Klang, Kuala Selangor, and Petaling districts in Selangor. The index patient had reported symptoms on Oct 9.

Contact tracing resulted in eight other cases being detected with another 261 test results pending.

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