New Covid-19 cluster detected aboard ship docked in Pasir Gudang

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 26): The Ministry of Health (MoH) said yesterday a new Covid-19 cluster has been detected aboard a ship docked in Pasir Gudang, Johor.

The index case of the Orkim cluster is an Indonesian crew member of the ship, said MoH director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

"The patient signed on in Singapore on Sept 10. He started having fever, coughs, shortness of breath, purging and vomiting since Sept 13, but did not inform his employers about it.

"The patient signed off on Sept 17 and only sought treatment at a private clinic on Sept 22," he said in a statement yesterday.

The patient was then referred to Hospital Permai in Johor where he was found to be Covid-19 positive on Sept 23, before being admitted to the Enche' Besar Hajjah Khalsom Hospital in Kluang, Johor.

Following this, Noor Hisham said screening of the ship's crew found one more positive case, who is also an Indonesian.

"The second positive case is asymptomatic and has been admitted to the Enche' Besar Hajjah Khalsom Hospital," he said.

He added that 30 crew members have been screened. Besides the two positive cases, 24 others were found negative and another four are awaiting their results.

Noor Hisham said precautionary measures such as cleaning and disinfection have been carried out on board the ship. However, the source of infections is still under investigation.

Malaysia's new Covid-19 cases climbed back up to triple digits yesterday, with 111 confirmed infections recorded, versus 71 on Thursday, which raised the total confirmed infections in the country to 10,687.

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