119 clusters from factories, construction sites in Klang Valley

Bellart

The drastic increase in Covid-19 cases in the Klang Valley involved clusters at workplaces, with 119 clusters detected in factories and construction sites.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdulah said 83 clusters were still active while 36 clusters had ended.

"The ministry has screened 77,201 individuals from the clusters and found 12,079 tested positive of Covid-19. They involved 4,398 locals and 7,681 foreigners," he said in a statement.

The five clusters with the most cases recorded since the pandemic began were Teratai cluster with 4,036 cases (since Nov 7) and Damanlela construction site cluster with 1,539 cases involving Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

Cergas cluster recorded 1,337 cases which involved Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Kelantan, while Hentian cluster involving Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Negri Sembilan recorded 1,101 cases.

Kaya cluster which was detected in October has so far recorded 900 cases, involving Melaka, Negri Sembilan, Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor, Kelantan and Perak.

Following the rise in cases involving workplaces, he said industries that employed a high number of foreign workers were responsible for providing conducive housing for employees.

"They are also responsible for ensuring that their employees always adopt measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 at their homes and workplaces.

"Among the practices that need to be implemented are body temperature checks before entering the workplace, provide hand sanitizer and regularly conduct cleaning and disinfection at shared spaces.

"Also ensure that workers observe the physical distancing of at least one meter including in the workspace and pantry and that they do not gather in confined space," he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said the government had implemented the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) and the Enhanced MCO (EMCO) in certain areas to safeguard people's health and the nation's economy.

The success of this strategy requires cooperation from all employers and employees, he said.