KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 — The Health Ministry has announced the emergence of a new Covid-19 cluster involving a local man in Penang, with two positive cases recorded as of today.
Dubbed the Ara cluster, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the aforementioned index case, a 44-year-old male, had tested positive for Covid-19 during a screening at the international arrival gate in Sandakan, Sabah on September 15.
“The second case in the cluster involved the man’s niece, who was a close contact and tested positive for Covid-19 on September 19 and has been admitted to Hospital Pulau Pinang for treatment,” he said in a statement here.
Following the emergence of the new cluster, Dr Noor Hisham said active case detection and close contact screenings are being performed, with 16 people screened as of today.
Of the 16 screened, 14 were negative and the remaining two were the aforementioned Covid-19 patients.
Dr Noor Hisham said the source of the infection is currently being investigated.
Malaysia recorded 52 new Covid-19 cases with no new fatalities earlier today.
