KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 21): The Ministry of Health (MOH) has detected 16 new clusters of Covid-19 infections, 11 of which are linked to workplaces.
Two clusters are from the community, two others are linked to high-risk groups, and another is related to a religious activity.
A total of 316 new cases were detected from these new clusters in the 24 hours as of noon today, MOH director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah told a press conference.
Of the 11 workplace clusters, three are from Johor, comprising the Jalan Sempadan cluster (in Johor Bahru and Kulai districts with 35 confirmed infections), the Tampoi Tujuh cluster (in Johor Bahru with 15 cases) and the Seri Bayu cluster (in Kota Tinggi with six cases).
PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry wants to double its Covid-19 testing capacity to 150,000 a day by establishing more laboratories and enhancing collaboration with the private sector.
PUTRAJAYA: After the emergence of several Covid-19 clusters caused by funerals, the Health Ministry has suggested that such gatherings be limited to a maximum of 20 people.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this is to prevent clusters such as the Pasai cluster in Sarawak and last year’s Tawar cluster in Kedah from happening again.
“We realise that gatherings such as funerals or weddings have the potential to spread Covid-19 infection, if someone who is positive is in attendance.
“This is what we have seen with the two big clusters of Pasai and Tawar.
“We understand that funerals are a sensitive issue, due to cultural and emotional reasons.
The Government is working to increase its Covid-19 testing capacity to 150,000 a day, which is more than double the current 70,000, said Ministry of Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today. There are now 68 facilities that can conduct the RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) tests, and their capacity could be ramped up to a maximum 100,000 a day. The country only had 23 labs at the start of 2020, when the pandemic started to spread here, which could conduct about 1,000 RT-PCR tests a day.