KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia recorded 39 new Covid-19 cases today, the highest one-day spike on record, bringing the tally to 197 cases.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the new cases have been identified and isolated for treatment.
Of the 39 cases, 38 of them are Patient-Under-Investigation (PUI) and one from close contact.
“As of today, four cases have been reported to require ventilators to aid with breathing and are being treated at the Intensive Care Unit. These cases are also being given anti-viral treatment,” he said in a statement tonight.
Dr Noor Hisham said all the 22 cases detected in the first wave have recovered and discharged.
As for the second wave, he said it started with case-23 until case-197.
“Fifty-two cases reported are those among the PUIs, whereas the rest involve the two main clusters.”
He said the ministry is also conducting Covid-19 surveillance to track down isolated or sporadic cases in Malaysia through influenza-like illness (ILI) dan severe acute respiratory infection (SARI), with no travel history to the affected countries or contact with Covid-19 positive cases.
As of March 13, he said 756 samples had been tested in this latest round and three samples tested positive.
“Early investigation revealed that these cases are related to the tabligh (religious event) gathering clusters.
“We are still looking into this case and the public will be informed from time to time,” he said.
On a related matter, Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said to date, 40 Covid-19 cases have been identified from the 'tabligh' gathering at Seri Petaling Mosque.
Of the 40 cases, four were reported in Negri Sembilan, four in Johor, two in Pahang, 15 in Sabah, three in Kelantan, two in Perak, five in Penang, one in Perlis, two in Kedah and two in Labuan.
Sharing an update on the recent cluster infection, he tweeted: “The ministry continues to detect, isolate and treat this cluster. Indeed it’s a mammoth task and we hope for the best.”
Brunei and Singapore have also recorded Covid-19 cases traced to the gathering, held from Feb 28 to March 1. -- Additional reporting by Ahmad Fairuz Othman
