Health D-G: Malaysia’s new Covid-19 cluster in Solok Duku madrasah, four positive cases found

KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 — The Health Ministry has detected a new cluster for Covid-19 cases involving a madrasah or Islamic religious school in Solok Duku, Melaka, when four out of 107 individuals screened there tested positive for Covid-19.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today said: “The madrasah cluster in Solok Duku has been identified as the latest cluster related to madrasah tahfiz.”

In listing the details of the 107 who have been screened so far, Dr Noor Hisham said that two of the 35 students of the Solok Duku madrasah tested positive for Covid-19.

As for the 10 teachers and staff at the same madrasah, none of them tested positive, he said.

But among the 62 family members of the Solok Duku madrasah’s students, teachers and staff, a total of two Covid-19 positive cases were found, he said.

With the addition of the Solok Duku cluster, this means there are now six Covid-19 clusters involving madrasah or tahfiz schools that have been identified so far in Malaysia.

Out of the six madrasah tahfiz clusters, Dr Noor Hisham said that four of them are sub-clusters to the mass religious tabligh gathering at a mosque in Sri Petaling, while two of the madrasah clusters are under investigation.

What are the other five madrasah or tahfiz clusters?

The other five are the madrasah cluster at Sungai Salan, Pahang with 84 cases recorded so far, the madrasah cluster at Sungai Lui, Selangor with 172 cases, the madrasah cluster at Ayer Merbau, Melaka with 41 cases, the tahfiz cluster at Lanchang, Pahang at six cases, and the madrasah cluster at Penanti, Penang at six cases recorded so far.

No deaths had been recorded in these five other clusters, while the only one out of the five that recorded new cases today is the Sungai Salan madrasah cluster with three new cases today.

Dr Noor Hisham also said 12,384 samples have been taken or 64.5 per cent out of the 19,209 students, teachers and staff identified from 370 madrasah and tahfiz centres nationwide.

Out of the 12,384 samples taken so far, 635 tested positive for Covid-19, while 10,775 tested negative and 994 still have their results pending.

Dr Noor Hisham highlighted that a total of 539 out of the 635 who tested positive for Covid-19 had no respiratory symptoms, which meant a whopping 84.5 per cent of them were asymptomatic or did not display any symptoms.

He also said more than 1,000 private tahfiz and madrasah schools nationwide have yet to come forward to undergo Covid-19 screenings.