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Four new Covid-19 cases among overseas returnees

PUTRAJAYA: Four new Covid-19 cases were recorded today among Malaysians recently returned from abroad, bringing the total number of such cases to 369.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the four had returned from the United Kingdom, the United States, Egypt and India.

He said from April 3 to May 17, 36,900 overseas returnees were placed under the mandatory 14-day quarantine. A total of 28,984 have completed the process.

Meanwhile, he said the Health Ministry has screened 26,425 foreigners in Malaysia, 1,307 (or 4.9 per cent) of whom tested positive for Covid-19.

"Of those, 458 foreigners (35 per cent) are currently undergoing treatment, three (0.6 per cent) have been warded in intensive care units (ICUs), and four deaths (0.3 per cent) were recorded among this group," he told a press conference here today.

On a related matter, Dr Noor Hisham said no new Covid-19 cases were reported at the Jalan Othman market area, which is under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO). The number of positive cases from the cluster remains 28, of which 21 are foreigners.

He said there are still three active Covid-19 clusters nationwide as of May 17.

They are the Kampung Sg Lui cluster with a total of 187 Covid-19 positive cases (including three new cases); the Chow Kit wet market cluster with 81 cases (including two new cases); and the Pudu cluster with 33 cases (including one new case).

Meanwhile, he said the Seri Petaling cluster recorded 11 new cases as of today.

A total of 38,911 samples from the Seri Petaling cluster have been screened and tested, of which 2,375 were positive, involving five generations.

Meanwhile, 19,771 students at 370 tahfiz schools and madrasah nationwide have been identified for screening, with 13,656 samples (or 69.1 per cent) having been tested, and 658 (or 4.8 per cent) returning positive.

"Ninety-six of the positive cases (14.6 per cent) have shown Covid-19 symptoms, while 559 others (85.4 per cent) were asymptomatic."

He said Covid-19 tests were also carried out at 350 wet markets nationwide, involving 37,133 traders and workers; and 29,594 samples (79.7 per cent) were screened and tested for Covid-19. A total of 259 (0.9 per cent) positive cases were reported.

He said Malaysia's Covid-19 laboratory capacity stands at 27,233, with 23,860 samples (88 per cent) tested at 45 laboratories as of May 16.

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