Most S’gor Covid-19 clusters, not cases, are from factories - MB’s office clarifies
• UPDATED 12.05AM | Added a correction from the Selangor Menteri Besar’s office.
The Selangor Menteri Besar’s office has clarified that most Covid-19 clusters, rather than cases, in the state are linked to factories.
This came after Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari claimed in a speech earlier today that most Covid-19 cases in the state originate from workplace clusters especially those in factories, despite Health Ministry data showing that most cases are not linked to any cluster.
Amirudin’s office has sent a correction to his speech, which now reads:
“We are aware and should acknowledge that a large number of cases come from workplace clusters.
“Based on the latest data and figures...
• UPDATED 12.05AM | Added a correction from the Selangor Menteri Besar’s office.
The Selangor Menteri Besar’s office has clarified that most Covid-19 clusters, rather than cases, in the state are linked to factories.
This came after Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari claimed in a speech earlier today that most Covid-19 cases in the state originate from workplace clusters especially those in factories, despite Health Ministry data showing that most cases are not linked to any cluster.
Amirudin’s office has sent a correction to his speech, which now reads:
“We are aware and should acknowledge that a large number of cases come from workplace clusters.
“Based on the latest data and figures (throughout June 2021), 91 percent of clusters in Selangor are transmitted at work, namely 80 percent at industrial clusters, and 11 percent at construction site clusters.
“This equates to 125 clusters in the two sectors.”
Earlier, at the launch of the state’s "Vaksin Selangor" (Selvax) initiative, Amirudin said 91 percent of cases in the state were attributed to workplace clusters.
He did not specify the timeframe of that data.
The earlier version of the speech contradicted Health Ministry data showing that most Covid-19 cases in Malaysia, especially in Selangor, are sporadic.
This is in contrast to earlier waves of the pandemic where a large portion of cases was linked to clusters.
In a statement on June 21, Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 398,846 out of 578,105 Covid-19 cases (69 percent) recorded in Malaysia from Jan 1 to June 19 were classified as sporadic cases.
Selangor recorded the highest number of sporadic cases of all states, comprising 151,725 out of 194,062 cases (78 percent) recorded during the period. This would mean only 22 percent of cases in the state can be attributed to other sources such as clusters or imported cases.
More recently, International Trade and Industry Minister Azmin Ali quoted Health Ministry data in saying that only five to 10 percent of Covid-19 cases are from the manufacturing sector. This appears to the referring to national data, rather than infections in Selangor alone.
He also quoted Health Ministry data in claiming that only 25 percent of Covid-19 cases are from clusters, while the remaining 75 percent are not from clusters.
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