KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — Three new Covid-19 clusters have been identified by the Health Ministry today, located in Sabah, Negri Sembilan and Perak.
During his daily press briefing, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the new clusters were named the Kapor cluster (Sabah), the Hampar cluster (Negri Sembilan), and the Tapah Prison cluster (Perak).
He said the Kapor cluster was identified during a screening of a community of the Pelauh sea gypsies at the Kampung Tanjung Kapor in Kudat, Sabah on October 22.
As of 12pm today, a total of 127 possible contacts have been screened, with 46 people testing positive so far, 30 of whom were new cases recorded today.
The Hampar cluster at Rembau, Negeri Sembilan started with a person who was screened after showing symptoms of the disease and tested positive for it on October 21.
As of 12pm today, 578 have been tested in relation to the cluster, with four of his close contacts testing positive.
The Tapah Prison cluster in Batang Padang, Perak was identified when 11 prisoners tested positive for Covid-19 during screenings at the prison which started on October 12.
As of 12pm today, a total of 2,268 people have been screened in relation to the cluster, with 11 testing positive, four of whom were new cases today.
A total of 31 active clusters recorded new cases today.
Speaking on how the Health Ministry names Covid-19 clusters, Dr Noor Hisham said that it choses names based on the background of the first person — also known as the index case — in a cluster.
“The cluster name is given based on the building, residential area or street name of the index cases home, or their workplace. This is to ensure effective communication between the parties that are involved in the control and management of clusters,” he said.
