28 new cases in Malaysia; more infections in Indonesia, Philippines

Malaysia yesterday reported 28 new cases of the coronavirus sweeping much of the world.

New confirmed cases also surfaced in the Philippines and in Indonesia.

Malaysia's Health Ministry said the new cases brought the country's total to 83 patients. Of these, 23 had recovered and been discharged.

The ministry reported that it had checked at least 956 people who came into close contact with those infected. More than 200 of them are linked to the 26th patient, Mr Hisham Hamdan, an executive director of sovereign wealth fund Khazanah, described as "an extraordinary spreader".

Eighteen in this cluster have tested positive, while the rest have been quarantined.

Health director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah said public health workers were tracing local and sporadic cases of flu-like illnesses and severe respiratory infections involving people who have not travelled to countries that have reported outbreaks.

"So far, there have been no sporadic Covid-19 cases detected through this surveillance," said Datuk Noor Hisham.

Meanwhile, the Philippines, reported its first coronavirus case of a Filipino who has not been out of the country.

The 62-year-old man from San Juan city, just east of Manila, was known to frequent a Muslim prayer hall in San Juan. He was reported to be a store owner at a popular shopping mall in the city.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque said that while this was the Philippines' first local case, it did not yet suggest local transmission.

When asked how the patient got the virus, he replied: "We really don't know."

Dr Rabindra Abeyasinghe, the World Health Organisation's Philippines representative, said the case suggested local transmission, but sought to play down fears of a massive community spread.

"A cluster of cases doesn't mean that you are having widespread local transmission... We don't talk of community transmission till we clearly know the extent of the cluster," he said.

A 48-year-old Filipino lawyer was also reported to have tested positive. But it is believed he got the virus during one of his frequent trips to Japan.

Dozens more Filipinos are infected, but they are all abroad, with three of them in Singapore.

In Indonesia, two more cases were confirmed, bringing the total to four.

The two Indonesians - aged 33 and 34 - were tested after being in contact with the first confirmed case at a dance event, Mr Achmad Yurianto, government spokesman regarding the coronavirus situation, told reporters.

Mr Achmad said a report yesterday afternoon indicated that they had high temperature, runny nose and were coughing, although they reported no breathing difficulties.

"We hope to intervene with their situation soon so that they will be better," he said.

They were among 20 people who were at the dance event, of whom seven were tested.

Case 1 is a 31-year-old Indonesian woman who had been in contact with a Malaysia-based Japanese national who visited Indonesia.

He tested positive for the virus after returning to Malaysia.

The woman's 64-year-old mother, Case 2, was also infected.

All four confirmed cases are in isolation and being treated at the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital in north Jakarta.

Five other suspect cases are under observation.