Malaysia
Health D-G: New Covid-19 cluster detected from students returning from Indonesia
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah at a press conference in Putrajaya April 13, 2020. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Choo Choy May

KUALA LUMPUR, April 19 — A new cluster of Covid-19 has been detected from Malaysians returning from abroad, Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah revealed today.

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In his daily press briefings today, Dr Noor Hisham said this new cluster was detected from a group of students returning from the Magetan regency in East Java, Indonesia, which has been designated by the Indonesian government as a Covid-19 red zone.

"A new cluster has been detected at the international entrance where positive cases are detected among Malaysians return from Indonesia via the Kuala Airport Kuala Lumpur (KLIA) on April 16, 2020.

"The cluster comprises 43 students returning from Temboro, which is one place which has been declared a red zone in Magetan province, Indonesia.

"Of the total, 34 were quarantined in the state of Malacca and nine people in the Kuala Lumpur.

"This shows that action government has taken to quarantine and screen all Malaysians returning from overseas are appropriate. This is to ensure that the import case does not infect Malaysian citizens,” he said.

Earlier today, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today said that the government’s move to quarantine all returning Malaysians from overseas was the right one as 17 of them had tested positive for Covid-19.

He said the move, which was unpopular when announced during phase two of the movement control order from April 1 to 14, is now a lifesaver as many other countries did not adopt the same policy, which resulted in catastrophic results.

Malaysians who returned from abroad are placed under the mandatory 14-day quarantine at designated hotels with no charges.

The government instead set a budget aside with a rate of RM150 a day to which the hotels have agreed to.

Some of those in these hotels had complained about the isolation and the inability to order food delivery.

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