KUALA LUMPUR: All frontliners, including healthcare personnel, have been reminded to adhere to all guidelines and procedures to prevent any risk of Covid-19 infections.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said three clusters, namely Benteng LD (Lahad Datu and Tawau), Tawar and Sungai, have seen heathcare staff testing positive for Covid-19.
He reminded healthcare personnel to wear suitable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) including face masks when handling any case, to wash hands with water and soap prior and after every case management; and to practise physical distancing of at least one metre from each other in common areas, especially during breaks.
He said disinfection activities and sanitisation must also be carried out on areas that were frequently touched.
"While off duty, frontliners must always adhere to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) set by the government. Apart from that, continue making the new norm a culture to curb the spread of Covid-19 infections," he said in a statement today.
Dr Noor Hisham said that in Lahad Datu, a total of 1,258 people have been screened for Covid-19, with 88 positive cases detected so far.
Meanwhile in Tawau, 3,408 people have been screened to date, with 315 positive cases detected (including 22 new cases), 803 individuals tested negative and 2,290 others awaiting results.
He said of the total number of people screened for Covid-19 in the Benteng LD cluster, 383 out of the 913 inmates tested positive, while test results for two out of the 623 staff screened came back positive.
He said a total of 1,214 close contacts for families of staff and inmates were screened for Covid-19, with three of them found to have been infected with the virus, while no positive case detected among the 332 policemen screened.
Test results on 744 staff from other government agencies also turned out negative for Covid-19.
"A total of 840 social contacts were screened, with 15 testing positive for Covid-19. Of the total 403 Covid-19 cases registered, 176 are Malaysians and 227 others are foreigners from the Philippines (152 cases) and Indonesia (75).
"A total of 1,699 frontliners were screened, making up 36.41 per cent of the overall number of people screened under this cluster. Of the total, two positive Covid-19 cases were detected among the frontliners."
Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said six private healthcare staff contracted the virus in the Tawar cluster, following Covid-19 screening done on 624 (96.15 per cent) private and 25 (3.85 per cent) government healthcare staff.
As of noon today, a total of 18,233 people have been screened in the Tawar cluster with 13 new cases reported.
Of the number, 17,659 were screened in Kedah, with 81 of them testing positive for Covid-19, and 17,578 others negative.
A total of 563 people were screened for Covid-19 in Penang, of which 11 tested positive and 552 others negative. 11 people were screened in Perak with no Covid-19 cases detected.
Meanwhile, a total of 20 healthcare staff were infected with Covid-19 in the Sungai cluster, which saw a total of 14,044 people screened for Covid-19 as of noon today.
"A total of 711 (5.06 per cent) healthcare staff were screened for Covid-19. One new positive case was detected."
In Kedah, a total of 13,891 people were screened, with 56 positive for Covid-19, 8,054 others were negative and 5,781 awaiting results.
In Penang, 135 people were screened for Covid-19 with no new cases detected. A total of 18 people were screened in Perlis, with one testing positive for Covid-19, 11 negative and six awaiting test results.