Covid-19 (Dec 20): 1,340 new cases, more than half in Klang Valley

COVID-19 | The Health Ministry reported 1,340 new Covid-19 cases today.

More than half of the new cases today were from the Klang Valley.

Topping the chart was Selangor with 441 cases, followed by Kuala Lumpur with 284 cases.

Sabah, the previous epicentre of the third wave, recorded 196 cases.

Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham, in a statement, also reported 1,067 recoveries today.

This puts the cumulative Covid-19 cases at 93,309 against a cumulative recovery of 77,309.

Leading indicators:

• Active cases: 15,563 ↑ (269 more than the previous day, new record)
• Patients in ICU: 116 ↑ (four more than the previous day)
• Intubated patients: 57 ↑ (one more than the previous day)
• Deaths: 4 ↑ (3 more than the previous day).
  

The four fatalities today put the death toll at 437. Details of the latest deaths are as follows:

Patient 63,582 (Death 434): 63-year-old Malaysian man. Died at Sungai Buloh Hospital, Selangor. Had a history of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and obesity.

Patient 70,071 (Death 435): 67-year-old Malaysian man. Died at Penang Hospital. Had a history of high blood pressure.

Patient 72,925 (Death 436): 78-year-old Malaysian man. Died at Tawau Hospital. Had a history of high blood pressure and heart disease.

Patient 91,013 (Death 437): 77-year-old man who is a non-citizen. Brought in dead at Duchess of Kent Hospital, Sandakan. No details of pre-existing conditions.

The breakdown of the new cases is as follows:

Selangor (441)
Existing clusters: 128
Close contacts: 200
Imported: 1
Other screenings: 112

Kuala Lumpur (284)
Existing clusters: 66
New cluster: 140 (Metropolis construction site cluster)
Close contacts: 36
Other screenings: 42

Sabah (196)
Existing clusters: 32
New cluster: 18 (Estate Maju cluster)
Close contacts: 87
Other screenings: 59

Negeri Sembilan (169)
Existing clusters: 166
Close contacts: 3

Johor (156)
Existing clusters: 105
New cluster: 18 (Batu 39 cluster)
Close contacts: 21
Other screenings: 12

Penang (30)
Existing clusters: 19
Close contacts: 5
Other screenings: 6

Labuan (27)
Existing clusters: 6
Close contacts: 19
Other screenings: 2

Pahang (12)
Close contacts: 12

Perak (10)
Existing clusters: 6
Close contacts: 2
Other screenings: 2

Kedah (6)
Existing clusters: 5
Other screenings: 1

Sarawak (3)
Imported: 2
Other screenings: 1

Terengganu (2)
Close contacts: 2

Putrajaya (2)
Close contacts: 1
Other screenings: 1

Malacca (1)
Other screenings: 1

Kelantan (1)
Close contacts: 1

For details on the definition of "other screenings", please read Malaysiakini's guide here.

Perlis was the only state that did not report any new Covid-19 case today.

Noor Hisham said three clusters have been declared over, namely the Saga, Tatahan and Sakti clusters in Sabah.

However, he also revealed the emergence of three new clusters, namely the Metropolis construction site cluster in KL, Estate Maju cluster in Sabah and Batu 39 cluster in Johor.

This means 199 out of 443 Covid-19 clusters are still active.

The Metropolis construction site cluster is confined in Kepong and contributed to a spike of Covid-19 cases in Kuala Lumpur today.

The cluster was discovered on Dec 14 following a targeted screening.

To date, 481 people have been screened and 147 of them turned up to be positive with the virus.

The Estate Maju cluster involves the district of Kota Kinabalu, Putatan and Tuaran in Sabah. 

The index case is Patient 74,498 who was discovered through a screening of symptomatic individuals on Dec 8.

To date, 28 out of 63 people screened have tested positive for Covid-19.

The Batu 39 cluster involves the district of Pontian in Johor.

The index case, Patient 90,568, was discovered through a targeted screening of workplaces.

As of today, 28 out of the 152 people screened have the virus.

On a separate matter, Noor Hisham noted that several states are experiencing seasonal floods and 8,244 people have been evacuated to 71 temporary relief centres.

He said the Health Ministry has been monitoring the centres and so far, no Covid-19 cases have been detected.

He cautioned that crowded conditions at the relief centres could cause Covid-19 outbreaks and urged the public to abide by the standard operating procedures outlined by the Health Ministry.