The positive cases include five imported cases and 53 local transmissions, the health ministry said in a statement today.

It said 29 of the 53 local cases involve Malaysians. The other 24 are foreigners.

No new deaths were recorded today, with the country’s death toll remaining at 128.

Eight patients were discharged over the last 24 hours, said health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, with total recoveries to date standing at 9,189.

Noor Hisham said there are currently 551 active cases, with nine being treated at intensive care units and five needing respiratory assistance.

The five imported cases originated from Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Syria and the Philippines.

Forty-eight cases are from Sabah, involving 24 foreigners; 44 are from the Benteng LD cluster where 21 are foreigners; three cases are from the new Laut cluster and one case is from a pre-surgery screening at Hospital Queen Elizabeth in Kota Kinabalu.

Five cases are from the Sungai cluster in Kedah.

On the Benteng cluster, Noor Hisham said as of noon today, 4,089 individuals were screened with 44 new positive Covid-19 cases.

There were also 2,847 screenings from Tawau where 293 cases were positive, 724 were negative and 1,830 were still waiting for results.

Another 1,242 people were screened in Lahad Datu with 88 cases positive, 440 negative and 714 still waiting for results.

Meanwhile, on the Sungai cluster in Kedah, 8,258 individuals have been screened so far with the help of 709 healthcare staff.

A total of 8,110 individuals from Kedah have been screened with 55 positive cases in total, 2,041 negative and 6,014 awaiting results.

A total of 131 screenings were from Penang, with 124 coming back negative and seven still awaiting results.

Seventeen screenings were done in Perlis, with one coming back positive for Covid-19, 11 negative and five still waiting for results.

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