Malaysia confirms 28 new COVID-19 cases

March 07, 2020 | 10:49

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The Malaysian Health Ministry has confirmed 28 new COVID-19 cases on Friday (Mar 6), bringing the total number of positive cases to 83.

Workers clean poles during a demonstration for the media of sanitisation operations being used to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus outbreak at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on Feb 4, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Mohd RASFAN)

In a statement, Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said patients 56 to 83 have all been hospitalised for further treatment, and contact tracing for the new cases is underway.

“With the latest addition of positive cases, the breakdown would be 65 Malaysians, 15 Chinese nationals and three who are from USA, Japan and Italy.

“In total, 956 close contacts have been identified for all 83 cases, of which 258 were connected to the cluster of Case 26,” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham explained that of the cluster related to Case 26, 18 people have tested positive while 70 have tested negative, and all have been self-quarantined for 14 days.

“As for the remaining 170 related to this cluster, they are all awaiting laboratory results and have also been quarantined at home.

Case 26, a 52 year old man who has now publicly identified himself as UDA Holdings Chairman Hisham Hamdan had visited Shanghai in mid-January.

He had a fever and sore throat on Feb 27 and received outpatient treatment at a private hospital on the same day and later tested positive on Feb 29. He was then warded at the Sungai Buloh Hospital.

“The ministry is still investigating the case and contact tracing for the cluster is still ongoing to ensure the source and prevent further spreading," Dr Noor Hisham said.

He added that after several tests, the ministry found that Malaysia currently did not have sporadic cases of COVID-19.

Dr Noor Hisham also said that one more person infected in the first wave has recovered, bringing the total number of discharged patients to 24.

AFP

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