Asia

Malaysia reports 14 new COVID-19 cases, 1 more death

adminSeptember 1, 20202 Mins read87 Views

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia reported 14 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday (Sep 1), bringing the total number of infections in the country to 9,354.

Another COVID-19 related death was also reported on Tuesday, taking the total death toll to 128.

The latest fatality was an 80-year-old Malaysian woman, who was among the positive cases in the Tawar cluster reported on Aug 15. The woman also had a history of lung cancer and high blood pressure.

“She first showed symptoms of fever and chest pains on Aug 6 and was admitted to a medical centre. On Aug 14, she was transferred to the Penang General Hospital after being found to be COVID-19 positive.

“Her condition deteriorated due to complications from her lung cancer and had been on ventilator support since Aug 24. She was confirmed to have died at 10.38 am on Sep 1,” health director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah said on Tuesday.

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Among the 14 new infections, five were imported cases involving foreigners who returned to Malaysia from Ukraine, Pakistan, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The remaining nine cases are local transmissions, involving five Malaysians – two in Kedah and three in Sabah.

“In Sabah, one case is from a new cluster, which is the Benteng LD (Lahad Datu) cluster, one a severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) patient from the Lahad Datu Hospital and one from a detainee screening in prison,” Dr Noor Hisham said.

The other four local transmissions are foreigners also linked to the Benteng Lahad Datu cluster in Sabah.

Dr Noor Hisham added that Malaysia has 151 active COVID-19 infections.

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Twenty-one more patients have also fully recovered from the coronavirus on Tuesday, taking the total number of recoveries to 9,075.

Five COVID-19 patients are being treated in the intensive care unit, with three needing ventilator support.

TAWAR CLUSTER

Elaborating on the Tawar cluster, Dr Noor Hisham said in Kedah, 17,355 people were screened and 64 were tested. The tests showed 15,853 people were negative for the coronavirus and 1,418 people were still waiting for their results.

In Penang of the same cluster, 534 people were screened, 11 tested positive for COVID-19, while the rest were negative, said Dr Noor Hisham.

In Perak, all 11 people screened tested negative for COVID-19.

TELAGA CLUSTER

As for the Telaga cluster, a total of 1,008 people had been screened as of noon on Tuesday, with six people tested positive for COVID-19 in Kedah.

One case in Penang is still waiting for the result. The rest of the screening were done in Kedah, where other than the six people who tested positive, 968 people tested negative for COVID-19 and 33 are still waiting for their results.