KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry has detected a new Covid-19 cluster in Melaka involving close contacts to Malaysians returning home from Russia. It has been referred to as the Novgorod cluster.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said to date, the ministry has detected three cases and identified 14 close contacts related to the patient under investigation (PUI) involving the cluster.
He said the first case for the cluster is Case 8,673 who had returned home from Russia on July 5.
"The result from the Covid-19 screening conducted at the country's international entry point showed the patient testing positive for the virus. The patient was subsequently admitted and treated at the Sungai Buloh Hospital.
"The second case for the cluster is Case 8,718, a friend of the first patient, who boarded the same flight (from the same cluster).
"The patient (Case 8,718) who initially tested negative for Covid-19, only displayed symptoms related to the virus including fever, on July 7. The patient for Case 8,718 subsequently tested positive for Covid-19 after undergoing a repeat testing for the virus," said Dr Noor Hisham in a statement today.
The third case from the cluster, he said, is Case 8,724 and is the father to patient for Case 8,718.
He said the patient for Case 8,724 together with three other family members in the same car had welcomed the arrival of the second patient of the cluster.
"Patient for Case 8,724 is detected to have been infected by the virus after he started developing fever. He is third case from the PUI Novgorod cluster," he said.