KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia reported 62 new COVID-19 infections, the Health Ministry said on Monday, bringing the national total to 9,459, with most of the new cases coming from a cluster involving detainees.
Of the new cases, six are imported and 56 are local transmissions including 50 new cases in the northern Borneo state of Sabah, mainly affecting prisoners and detainees, Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press statement.
The cluster was first detected on Sept. 1 and traced to two illegal migrants who were held at the Lahad Datu district police headquarters.
The pair were testing positive on Aug. 31 and were moved to a hospital while active case detection was conducted, with 1,404 close contacts being traced and 66 of those coming up positive, according to the statement.
The cluster has spread to Tawau area, where cases were detected in a prison.
Of the 66 confirmed cases, 64 are detainees as authorities attributed the transmission among inmates to the crowded and narrow spaces of the lockup facilities.
Meanwhile, Another new case cluster had been detected in Kedah state, traced to healthcare workers to a medical center, with two testing positive so far.
Nine cases have been released on Monday, bringing the total cured and discharged to 9,124 or 96.5 percent of all cases.
Of the remaining 207 active cases, six are being held in intensive care and four of those are in need of assisted breathing.
No new deaths have been reported, leaving the total deaths at 128. Enditem
