KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 — The Ministry of Health (MOH) found one new cluster in Stutong, Sarawak, after detecting two positive cases as of noon today.
The two were among nine fresh cases reported today. Four of them were imported and the rest were local transmissions.
The MOH said it has screened over 200 people from the new cluster.
“The ministry would like to inform that a new cluster was detected at a market in Stutong, Sarawak. As of noon July 18, 218 traders had been screened with 213 of them Malaysians and the rest foreign nationals,” it said in a statement.
Two positive cases were detected among 56 samples taken from the cluster, the MOH said. The rest tested negative.
Public health authorities discovered the new cluster after traders at the market were screened as part of its targeted approach on high risk groups. The ministry said it is investigating the transmission source.
The Stutong cluster adds to the four new groups the MOH reported yesterday.
The Novgorod cluster, involving Malaysian returnees from Russia, was the biggest until yesterday. Five positive cases detected. The Pitakwa and Jupiter clusters both had three positive three cases each.
By noon today, the MOH detected five new cases in the fourth cluster, Mambong. The ministry said it is still waiting for the test results from 65 of the 70 people screened.
A Malaysian and a Filipino were reported to be the source of transmission, the MOH said in its July 18 statement.
Despite the emergence of a new cluster, only nine new cases were reported today. Four of them were foreign transmissions while the rest were local.
Local Covid-19 cases continue have remained low since June, fluctuating between single and double digits in the last few weeks. And the ministry reported no deaths today, a record that has stretched for more than a week. Malaysia’s mortality rate remains at just 1.39 per cent or 122 deaths, among the lowest in the world.
Total positive cases now stood 8,546.
