PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia records a significant jump in the number of new Covid-19 cases today with 260. This is a big leap from yesterday's 89.
This is the second-highest since June 4, with the total number of cases now at 11,484.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said from the total number of cases, only one was an imported case in Kuala Lumpur involving a foreigner who arrived from the United Kingdom.
"Out of the 259 local transmission cases, 130 involved locals and 129 were foreigners.
"From the 259 cases, 31 cases have had travel history to Sabah. This brings the total number of cases from Sabah to 119 since Sept 20," he said during a press conference at the Health Ministry today.
He said the country's highest number of daily cases was 27, involving foreigners at the Immigration Depot in Bukit Jalil.
The third-highest number of cases was recorded on March 26 during the first phase of the Movement Control Order (MCO) with 235 cases, involving 208 local transmissions and 27 import cases.
Today's new cases were detected in Sabah (118), Kedah (98), Kuala Lumpur (13), Selangor (13), Johor (5), Kuala Lumpur (5), Terengganu (2), Perlis (2), Malacca (1), Pahang (1) and Penang (1).
Dr Noor Hisham also said four new clusters had been identified and they were located in Selangor (Jalan Meru cluster), Sabah (Joo Hwa cluster), Putrajaya (Selasih cluster) and Kedah (Bah Ketil).
He said the Jalan Meru cluster in Klang, Selangor involved a 30-year-old man (case 11,148) who showed Covid-19 symptoms since Sept 24.
"The man was tested positive on Sept 29 and was admitted to the Sungai Buloh Hospital.
"Following close contact tracing, three others tested positive which triggered the Jalan Meru cluster. All are locals and have been admitted to the Sungai Buloh Hospital," he said.
For the Joo Hwa cluster in Sabah, Dr Noor Hisham said the index case was a 31-year-old man who had cough and fever symptoms since Sept 14 and tested positive on Sept 20.
"Four close contacts of the man tested positive; they are locals and have been admitted to the Tawau Hospital.
"As of today, 126 individuals have been screened. Five were found to be positive and 11 negative, with 110 others awaiting their results. The cause of infection is still under investigation," he said.
Dr Noor Hisham said the index case of the Selasih cluster in Putrajaya is a 37-year-old man with a travel history to Kota Kinabalu, Melangkap and Kundasang in Sabah from Sept 13 to 20 and Sept 24 to 27.
"He started having fever and cough since Sept 25 and arrived here via the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Sept 27, where he tested positive on Sept 28.
"Six positive cases were identified following close contact tracing. All cases involved Malaysians and they are being treated at the Sungai Buloh Hospital.
Dr Noor Hisham said the Bah Ketil cluster was in Baling and Langkawi districts. The cluster's index case was a 39-year-old local man (case 11,129) with travel history to Tawau, Sabah from Sept 17 to 21.
"He had cough and muscle pains from Sept 24 and sought treatment in Sungai Petani, Kedah.
"The person tested positive on Sept 28 and close contact tracing found eight others who tested positive and they have been admitted to the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital and the Langkawi Hospital.
"From the eight, three are locals. The cause of infection is still under investigation," he said.
Dr Noor Hisham said the number of active cases in the country currently stood at 1,334 cases.
The number of people who have recovered rose to 10,014, hitting the five-digit mark for the first time, with 47 new recoveries today.
He said death toll remained at 136, while 20 cases were currently seeking treatment in intensive care units, with three requiring breathing assistance.