Healthcare workers in protective suits are seen conducting Covid-19 testing in Ampang May 18, 2021. — Picture by Firdaus Latif
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KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 — Amid continued mass testing in Selangor, the Health director-general disclosed today that 93 per cent of new Covid-19 cases recorded in the state over the last 24 hours came from close contact and non-cluster voluntary screenings.
Earlier, Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah disclosed that Selangor accounted for almost one-third of new cases recorded in the last 24-hour period, with new Covid-19 infections surging another 6,806 cases as Malaysia breached the 50,000 daily active cases mark today.
Dr Noor Hisham said just 153 out of 2,277 new cases recorded in Selangor stemmed from existing cluster screenings while 1,510 were close contact and 614 from non-cluster screenings, respectively.
Non-cluster screenings, also known as sporadic cases, are identified positive Covid-19 cases currently under investigation to determine possible links to any existing active clusters.
Non-cluster voluntary screenings also include workplace, symptomatic, interstate travel and pre-operation testing in medical wards.
They may also be attributed to voluntary testing done by an individual at private clinics.
Selangor has consistently exceeded 2,000 daily infections over the past week as it launched a free statewide mass testing drive earlier this month to detect “silent carriers” of the Covid-19 virus.
Silent carriers are individuals — mostly unaware — who have been infected with Covid-19 and show little or no symptoms of the disease.
To date, the densely populated Selangor has recorded a cumulative of 161,584 Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began last year.
Similar comparisons could be made with neighbouring Kuala Lumpur as well, with 87 per cent of the 655 cases recorded in the last 24 hours consisting of close contact (340) and non-cluster screenings (230). Only 84 positive cases were existing Covid-19 cluster-linked.
Separately, a total of 24 new Covid-19 clusters were detected nationwide over the last 24 hours, Dr Noor Hisham revealed as well.
Four new clusters were reported in Sabah, followed by Selangor, Melaka, Penang and Johor with three each, Sarawak, Pahang, Kedah with two new clusters and one each in Kelantan and Terengganu.
Out of these new clusters, a statement by Dr Noor Hisham showed that nine were detected among staff in workplaces such as public service institutions in Ayer Keroh and Alor Gajah, a construction site and business premises in Kota Kinabalu, and factories in Kluang, Papar, Hulu Selangor and Bukit Mertajam.
These workplace clusters alone contributed a total of 163 positive cases in today’s tally.
Another six clusters, labelled as religious clusters, involved infected localities in Batu Pahat and Johor Baru in Johor, Kuala Muda and Kulim in Kedah, Kalabakan in Sabah as well as Klang in Selangor.
Adding on today’s figures are seven more community clusters, with two of them detected in Sarawak and Pahang, while one each in Kedah, Melaka and Penang respectively.
To date, there have been 1,966 Covid-19 clusters reported nationwide, with 528 of those still reporting new infections, and 1,438 declared ended.