No new cases linked to the Sivagangga PUI (person under investigation) Cluster in Kedah have been reported as at noon today and only seven new positive cases were recorded with six of them being imported cases and one case of local transmission.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that this brings the number of active cases with infectivity to 170 and the cumulative figure of positive cases in the country to 9,070.

He said that six cases recorded today had contracted the virus abroad, involving three Malaysians and three foreigners.

“The six imported cases are from China (case in Kuala Lumpur), Yemen (Kuala Lumpur) and Myanmar (Kuala Lumpur),” he said in a statement today.

It also involved cases from Japan (Selangor), Pakistan (Sarawak) and Mexico (Labuan), he said.

Dr Noor Hisham added that there is only one case of local transmission involving a Malaysian from screening conducted at a workplace in Negeri Sembilan.

“He has a history of working in Indonesia and returned to Malaysia on May 7. He has no symptoms and has been admitted to Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital,” he said.

According to him, a total of 47 cases have recovered from infection, bringing the cumulative number of cases that had fully recovered to 8,775 cases (96.8 per cent of the total cases).

He said that there were two cases being treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) where one case needed respiratory assistance.

No increase in COVID-19-related deaths were reported today, and the cumulative death toll currently stands at 125.

Touching on the Sivagangga PUI Cluster, Dr Noor Hisham said that a total of 4,198 people had been screened including screenings carried out in Kedah, Perlis and Penang thus far.

Of that number, 43 cases tested positive for COVID-19 while 3,235 were negative and 920 are still waiting for results.

“Close contact screening and active case detection activities are ongoing. Preventive measures such as disinfection and sanitation processes are being conducted in areas that have been identified as closely linked to this cluster,” he said.

He said that the public will be informed on the latest development regarding the cluster from time to time.

“The public is also urged to check the authenticity of information received before disseminating them,” he said.

-- BERNAMA