24 new Covid-19 cases, active infections climb over 300

COVID-19 | The number of active Covid-19 cases has climbed to over 300, the highest in almost three months.

According to the Health Ministry, the number of active cases now stands at 322.

The last time the number of active cases was above 300 was on June 19 when the country saw 344 active Covid-19 patients.

The active cases rose above 300 as a result of 24 new infections recorded today.

Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (above), in a statement, said there were 18 local transmissions and six imported cases.

The imported cases involve three Malaysians and three non-citizens returning from Bangladesh (2), China (1), Indonesia (1), Singapore (1), and South Korea (1).

As for the 18 local transmissions, the bulk of them was recorded in Kedah, involving 16 Malaysians and two non-citizens.

Sixteen of the cases in Kedah comprised of 13 new cases from the Sungai cluster, one from the Tawar Cluster, one from the Telaga Cluster, and another from a screening at Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah.

Elaborating on the Sungai cluster, Noor Hisham said 1,091 people have been screened of which a total of 39 people have been found infected with Covid-19.

A total of 433 tested negative while another 619 are waiting for their results in three states, namely Kedah, Perlis and Penang.

Meanwhile in Sabah, the Benteng Lahad Datu cluster which led to an explosion of active Covid-19 cases in the last two days saw improvements with only two new cases recorded.

This brings the total cases in the Bentang Lahad Datu cluster to 130.

This was a result of 2,349 people being screened in Lahad Datu and Tawau with 1,307 more people are waiting for their results.

The new infections today put the cumulative cases at 9,583, of which 9,143 have recovered.

Seven Covid-19 patients are in the intensive care unit, of which, four need ventilators.

No new death was reported, maintaining the death toll at 128.

Noor Hisham, in his statement, also expressed concern over an uptick of Covid-19 cases among medical staff.

He said an investigation found 53 percent of medical staff contracted the virus from their colleagues.

He said medical staff who get infected from the community was 22 percent while those who were infected from patients who unknowingly have Covid-19 was 17 percent.

However, no medical staff have been infected while treating known Covid-19 patients.

He advised medical staff not to let their guard down and to continue practising preventive measures including social distancing and wearing proper equipment.