KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 — Four new Covid-19 clusters have been identified today, the Health Ministry said.

In a statement today, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the four new clusters — which involve both Malaysian and non-Malaysian citizens — are the Pitakwa persons under investigation (PUI) cluster, Shirala PUI cluster, Kuching Medical Centre cluster and Jupiter cluster.

"Screening and investigations are ongoing for all four clusters,” the statement read.

For the first cluster, Pitakwa, the index case is a Malaysian citizen (Case 8,737) who returned to Malaysia from Nigeria on July 11 and was initially screened and found to be negative at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), Dr Noor Hisham said.

"However, three days after his arrival in Malaysia, he had to undergo another Covid-19 test as he began experiencing worsening symptoms while he was at the Hulu Terengganu Hospital where he tested positive for the virus.

"Subsequently, 44 close contacts were identified and screened, especially family members, flight passengers and crew, taxi drivers and colleagues.

"From this number, two close contacts have tested positive for Covid-19 (Case 8,754 and Case 8,755). Three have tested negative while 39 have results pending,” he said.

For the second cluster, Shirala PUI, the index case (Case 8,730) is a non-Malaysian citizen who is a professional in Malaysia for work.

The individual arrived in the country on July 6 from India, but was initially categorised as negative when screened at KLIA.  

"Five days after his arrival in Malaysia, he underwent a repeat test as he started to experience symptoms on July 11.

"His results came back positive on July 19 and he was admitted to Sungai Buloh Hospital,” said Dr Noor Hisham.

So far, he said, two close contacts have been identified where one has tested positive (Case 8,738) while the other is negative.

For the third Kuching Medical Centre cluster, the index case is a Malaysian citizen who went for screening as he was considered high risk since he is healthcare worker.

"He initially did not have any symptoms, but later tested positive on July 14 and was admitted to Sarawak General Hospital.

"To date, one out of 26 close contacts have tested positive for Covid-19 while the rest are negative,” he said. 

The close contact who tested positive for the virus is a colleague of the index case in Kuching Medical Centre.

For the fourth cluster, the Jupiter cluster, the index case is a non-Malaysian citizen (Case 8,732).

"He is a crew member of a ship that sailed to Japan and Singapore.

"He began to experience symptoms on July 3 and by the time he arrived in Sarawak waters, these symptoms had worsened.

"He was admitted for a virus test and found positive, and later transferred to Bintulu Hospital,” he said.

Following that, Dr Noor Hisham said 29 close contacts have been identified who were on board the same vessel as fellow crew members. Of the 29, two tested positive (Case 8,747 and Case 8,748) while 27 others tested negative.

"This cluster is an isolated imported cluster.

"The surrounding community is certainly not exposed to this ship’s crew and cases that need treatment will immediately be taken to medical centres and hospitals,” he added.

Dr Noor Hisham said updates on the clusters will be given from time to time.