Covid-19: Six new cases, new cluster in Sarawak

CORONAVIRUS | There were six new cases of Covid-19 today, including one from a new cluster in Sarawak.

Of the new infections, two were imported cases which included one foreigner, while the four local transmissions were all Malaysians.

Of the local transmissions, one was from a tahfiz school in Kuala Lumpur, one was a relative to coronavirus "Patient 8513" in Selangor, and one was from an individual being screened in Negeri Sembilan prior to returning to Sarawak.

The fourth case was from the new Kidurong cluster in Bintulu, Sarawak.

According to Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (above), the Kidurong cluster has six cases thus far, with the initial case being a public university student ("Patient 8453") who tested positive on June 12.

The student had infected both parents, and two siblings, while a friend to the father has also tested positive.

The ministry had identified 231 people who were in close contact with the cluster, of which 163 were screened and tested negative.

The source of infection is still under investigation.

Overall, total cases today stood at 8,535, with total recoveries at 8,070 with only 344 active cases remaining.

No new deaths were reported, with the death toll remaining at 121 cases.

Meanwhile, Noor Hisham said the post mortem report for death number 121, an Indian national who was detained at the Bukit Jalil Immigration Depot, was not available yet as his cause of death has not been determined.

His death was reported on June 14, five days ago. He was found dead on June 12.

“Yes, we have done post-mortem, it did show some evidence of consolidation of the lungs so he may have (had) a Covid-19 infection and this had affected the lung as well. So the question is whether that is the cause of death.

“We are also investigating in terms of doing other tests so we need to wait for the report from other tests before we can make conclusive remarks,” the top official said.

The Immigration Department confirmed today that the 67-year-old man who died was Zeawdeen Kadar Masdan and that he had been detained in a May 1 raid.

Zeawdeen’s family claims he was a tourist who was stranded in Malaysia after international borders closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

They have been waiting to claim his body for burial.