PUTRAJAYA: A new Covid-19 cluster has been identified at the Semenyih Immigration Department depot, near here.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said a total of 21 undocumented migrants at the centre had been tested positive for Covid-19.
"A total of 1,752 samples have been taken from 1,631 detainees and 121 personnel. Of that number, 21 tested positive while the rest are still waiting for their results," he said at his daily press conference here today.
He said besides immigration depots and old folks homes, prisons were also found to be a high-risk area due to the crowded and confined areas.
However, he said, the situation at the immigration depots and prisons were under control due to effective screening and testing where those tested positive were given treatment and close contacts isolated.
"We are working closely with the Immigration Department and one of the conditions before permitting entry (to migrants) is to have them screened for Covid-19."
Dr Noor Hisham said as of today, there were only three active Covid-19 clusters - the Semenyih Immigration depot cluster, Pedas cluster and Setia Alam construction site cluster.
One new Covid-19 positive case was detected from the Pedas cluster, bringing the total number of cases from the cluster to 163, he said.
On the Setia Alam construction site cluster, Dr Noor Hisham said one new case was recorded, bringing the total to 13.
He said 31 other clusters today did not record any new Covid-19 cases today.
On the Seri Petaling cluster, Dr Noor Hisham said two new cases were recorded as of today.
He said 41,099 samples from the Seri Petaling cluster had been screened and tested, of which 3,361 (8.18 per cent) tested positive, where 3,010 (89.56 per cent) have recovered.
"The cluster, involving five generations has 318 (9.46 per cent) active cases and has recorded 33 deaths (0.98 per cent)."
Meanwhile, 20,587 students at 378 tahfiz schools and madrasah nationwide have been identified for screening, with 14,747 (71.6 per cent) having been tested, and 577 (4.6 per cent) returning positive.
"Of the positive cases, 96 (14.3 per cent) have shown Covid-19 symptoms, while 577 others (85.7 per cent) were asymptomatic."
He added that Covid-19 tests were also carried out at 390 wet-markets nationwide, involving 41,435 traders and workers; and 32,075 (77.4 per cent) samples taken. A total of 271 (0.8 per cent) Covid-19 cases were reported, of which 37 (13.7 per cent) were symptomatic and 234 (86.3 per cent) were found to be asymptomatic.
On screening at old folks homes, he said, 11,032 residents, caretakers and staff have been identified with 9,367 (84.9 per cent) samples taken.
Of this, he said 23 (0.2 per cent) were tested positive - three (13 per cent) symptomatic and 20 (87 per cent) asymptomatic.
On a related matter, Dr Noor Hisham said four new Covid-19 cases were detected among the latest Malaysians returning from overseas, bringing the total number to 434.
"Three of them were from Saudi Arabia and one from Egypt. From April 3 to May 22, 39,820 individuals had returned from abroad and placed under the mandatory 14-day quarantine period, of which, 31,865 of them had since completed the quarantine."
He further said the Health Ministry has so far screened 27,321 foreigners, 1,449 (or 5.3 per cent) of whom tested positive for Covid-19.
"Of those, 416 foreigners (28.7 per cent) are currently undergoing treatment for the coronavirus in hospitals, one (0.2 per cent) has been warded in intensive care unit (ICU), and four deaths (0.3 per cent) had been recorded among this group."
Meanwhile, he said Malaysia's Covid-19 laboratory capacity stands at 27,667, with 28,016 samples (101 per cent) tested at 45 public and private laboratories as of May 22.
He added that 2,249 samples were tested using the Antibody Rapid Test Kit (RTK) for antigen detection and 44 cases tested positive (1.9 per cent).