Covid-19 (Feb 17): 2,998 new infections, death toll exceeds 1,000

COVID-19 | The country reported 2,998 new cases of Covid-19 as of noon today, of which seven were imported cases, while the rest were locally transmitted. 

This comprised 1,578 Malaysians (52.8 percent) and 1,413 non-citizens (47.2 percent). Malaysians made up 63.2 percent of all Covid-19 cases to date.

The number of new cases has been growing for the third consecutive day following a lull in testing over the Chinese New Year holidays.

Nevertheless, the number of active cases was still trending downwards due to a large number of patients being discharged from medical care.

A total of 5,709 recovered from Covid-19 today, compared to yesterday's record-high of 5,718 discharges.

However, 22 more people succumbed to the disease – the second-highest figure ever reported in the country. The highest was 24 deaths reported on Feb 8.

For the record, in fatal Covid-19 cases, death usually occurs two to eight weeks after the onset of symptoms. So, trends in Covid-19 deaths usually reflect infections that occurred weeks earlier.

Active cases: 41,396

Patients in ICU: 231

Intubated: 115

Deaths

The country's Covid-19 death toll reached four-digits today with the 22 new deaths, bringing the figure to 1,005.

Most of the deaths occurred in Selangor (8), followed by Sabah (4), Kuala Lumpur (3), Sarawak (2), Perak (2), and Negeri Sembilan (1).

All of the deaths involved Malaysians, the youngest of which was a 41-year-old female with diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis; and the oldest is a 100-year-old male with high blood pressure and asthma.

Two of the deaths involved people with no history of chronic illness – a 48-year-old male in Sabah, and an 83-year-old female in Selangor.

One person - a 73-year-old male with high blood pressure - was brought in dead at Sibu Hospital, Sarawak.

Cases by state

Selangor (1,382)
Existing clusters: 627
New clusters (Tapak Bina Jalan Emas, Tapak Bina Seksyen Satu, Jalan DC, Jalan Subang): 82
Close contacts: 383
Other screenings: 290

Johor (436)
Existing clusters: 60
New clusters (Jalan Perindustrian Murni, Jalan Payamanis, Senai Murni Empat, Jalan Persiaran Cyber): 175
Close contacts: 84
Other screenings: 117

Negeri Sembilan (233)
Existing clusters: 141
New cluster (Industri Tekstil Nilai): 49
Close contacts: 18
Other screenings: 25

Kuala Lumpur (226)
Existing clusters: 19
New cluster (Tapak Bina Jalan Sultan): 117
Close contacts: 16
Imported: 6
Other screenings: 68

Sarawak (200)
Existing clusters: 65
New cluster (Jan Yong): 14
Close contacts: 7
Other screenings: 114

Perak (99)
Existing clusters: 67
Close contacts: 12
Other screenings: 20

Sabah (94)
Existing clusters: 19
Close contacts: 54
Other screenings: 21

Penang (92)
Existing clusters: 29
Close contacts: 29
Other screenings: 34

Terengganu (91)
Existing clusters: 6
New cluster (Pulau Rusa): 1
Close contacts: 8
Other screenings: 76

Kelantan (72)
Existing clusters: 48
Close contacts: 13
Imported: 1
Other screenings: 10

Kedah (36)
Existing clusters: 19
Close contacts: 4
Other screenings: 13

Malacca (20)
Existing clusters: 11
Close contacts: 6
Other screenings: 3

Pahang (14)
Existing clusters: 2
Close contacts: 6
Other screenings: 6

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

Labuan (1)
Other screenings: 1

Clusters

The monitoring period ended for 13 clusters today, but the Health Ministry identified 13 new ones.

Hence, the number of active clusters remained unchanged at 499. Of these, new cases were reported in 75 clusters.

The largest increase was seen in the Tanjung Suria cluster, which affected several districts in Selangor as well as the Kota Bharu district in Kelantan.

There were 380 new cases detected in the cluster for a total of 2,526 cases. The cluster was first detected following targeted screening in two factories in December last year.

Four other clusters also reported hundreds of cases today, namely the Kebun Baru cluster (186 cases) in Selangor, the Industri TTJ cluster (141) in Negeri Sembilan and Malacca, the Tapak Bina Jalan Sultan cluster (117) in Kuala Lumpur, and the Persiaran Cyber cluster in Johor (105).

Details of the new clusters are as follows:

Tapak Bina Jalan Emas cluster
District(s): Petaling, Selangor
Locality/Source: Construction site near Jalan Emas, Petaling Jaya
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: Feb 17, targeted screening
Total infected: 49 out of 359 screened

Tapak Bina Seksyen Satu cluster
District(s): Hulu Langat, Selangor
Locality/Source: Construction site near Seksyen 1, Hulu Langat
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: Feb 15, targeted screening
Total infected: 18 out of 342 screened

Jalan Rawang cluster
District(s): Gombak, Selangor
Locality/Source: Factory at Jalan Rawang-Bestari Jaya, Gombak
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: Feb 16, targeted screening
Total infected: 42 out of 442 screened

Jalan Subang cluster
District(s): Petaling, Selangor
Locality/Source: Factory at Jalan Subang 7, Taman Perindustrian Subang, Subang Jaya
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: Feb 16, targeted screening
Total infected: 18 out of 151 screened

Jalan Perindustrian Murni cluster
District(s): Kulai, Johor Bahru and Kota Tinggi, Johor
Locality/Source: Factory at Jalan Perindustrian, Taman Perindustrian Murni, Senai
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: Feb 11, targeted screening
Total infected: 18 out of 457 screened

Senai Murni Empat cluster
District(s): Kulai, Johor
Locality/Source: Factory at Jalan Murni 4, Taman Perindustrian Murni, Senai
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: Feb 17, targeted screening
Total infected: 18 out of 97 screened

Jalan Persiaran Cyber cluster
District(s): Kota Tinggi, Johor
Locality/Source: Two factories at Jalan Cyber, Kawasan Perindustrian Senai 3, Kulai
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: Feb 8, targeted screening
Total infected: 121 out of 852 screened

Pulau Rusa cluster
District(s): Marang, Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu, and Dungun, Terengganu
Locality/Source: Residence at Kampung Pulau Rusa, Marang
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: Feb 7, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 18 out of 139 screened

Industri Tekstil Nilai cluster
District(s): Seremban and Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan
Locality/Source: Factory at Kawasan Perindustrian Nilai
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: Feb 15, targeted screening
Total infected: 64 out of 413 screened

Tapak Bina Jalan Sultan cluster
District(s): Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur
Locality/Source: Construction site at Jalan Sultan Ismail, Bandar Wawasan, Lembah Pantai
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: Feb 12, targeted screening
Total infected: 120 out of 285 screened

Jalan DC cluster
District(s): Kuala Selangor, Selangor
Locality/Source: Care centre at Jalan DC 1/3, Desa Coalfields, Sungai Buloh
Cluster category: High-risk group
First case: Feb 15, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 13 out of 37 screened

Jalan Paya Manis cluster
District(s): Johor Bahru, Johor
Locality/Source: Care centre at Jalan Payamanis, Johor Bahru
Cluster category: High-risk group
First case: Feb 17, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 39 out of 254 screened

Jan Yong cluster
District(s): Kapit, Sarawak
Locality/Source: Community in Sungai Yong, Kapit
Cluster category: Community
First case: Feb 17, contact tracing
Total infected: 15 out of 46 screened