A Covid-19 outbreak has been discovered among inmates of a transit detention centre in Johor, says the Health Ministry.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the outbreak - now dubbed the Padang Hijau cluster - has 12 confirmed Covid-19 cases as of Tuesday (April 6).
“The cases under this cluster were uncovered from a targeted screening exercise conducted on inmates at a transit detention centre in Padang Hijau, Kluang.
“So far, there are 12 confirmed cases from 17 individuals who were tested, ” said Dr Noor Hisham in his daily Covid-19 statement.
The enhanced MCO will be enforced at two illegal immigrant detention centres in Johor Baru, says Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
The Senior Minister (Security) said the decision was made to enforce the EMCO at the Home Ministry detention centre in Setia Tropika and the Immigration Department lockup at the Sultan Iskandar Building following an assessment by the Health Ministry.
"Out of 82 illegal immigrants at the centre in Setia Tropika, 39 tested positive.
"Meanwhile 51 positive cases were reported from the Immigration Department lockup," he said.
The Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, has consented to allow the five daily obligatory prayers and Friday prayers to be performed statewide, according to the capacity of mosques and surau, by taking into account physical distancing.
The permission was announced through a joint statement issued by state Islamic Religious Affairs Committee chairman Tosrin Jarvanthi; state Mufti Datuk Yahya Ahmad and Johor Islamic Religious Department director Datuk Md Rofiki Samsudin here today.
According to the statement, the permission will be effective from the Subuh prayers tomorrow (March 19) until further notice, after obtaining the advice of the National Security Council and the Ministry of Health.
Johor police have issued compound notices amounting to RM1.1mil during a single raid at an entertainment outlet in Muar.
Johor police chief Comm Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay (pic) said that police raided the centre at around 10.45pm on Saturday (March 13) night.
"During the raid, police inspected 109 visitors comprising 81 men and 28 women aged from 17 to 52.
"Due to their failure of practising social distancing, all of them are issued with a RM10,000 compounds each amounting to RM1.1mil," he said, adding that they all tested negative for drugs.
A Covid-19 outbreak has been discovered among crewmen of a cargo ship in Tanjung Pelepas port in Johor.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 25 individuals had undergone Covid-19 testing before boarding the ship, and eight crew members were found to be positive.
“The ‘Pona cluster’ involves crew members of a cargo ship that is docked at Tanjung Pelepas port in Johor Baru, on March 6.
“The ship has a history of travelling to Surabaya, Indonesia, ” said Dr Noor Hisham in his daily Covid-19 statement Wednesday (March 10).
Johor received a portion of the Covid-19 vaccine supply that arrived in the country today to be placed at four vaccine storage centres (VSC) in the state.
The supply, which is part of the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, arrived in Johor Bahru from Singapore via the Johor Causeway.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba and Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Ir Hasni Mohammad were present on-site when the supplies arrived.
About 18,000 medical frontliners in Johor are expected to be vaccinated during the first phase of the National Covid-19 Vaccination Programme.
Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad said the state government is prepared to carry out the first phase of the programme that involves both medical and non-medical frontliners, starting from Feb 26.
"We have yet to know the final figure of those who will receive the vaccine during the first phase as we are still in the process of receiving a response from frontliners who are not from the Health Ministry.
Two private centres providing quarantine and treatment services for low-risk Covid-19 patients will be opening in Johor next month, further reducing the burden on public hospitals.
Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad today said the two private centres are in the final process of obtaining approval from the federal government and is confident they will be operational by March.
“The private Covid-19 Low-Risk Quarantine and Treatment Centres involves a hotel in Iskandar Puteri, while another is a staff hostel in the Kota Tinggi area. These two are the first private centres of its kind in Johor.
The Health Ministry today announced that 17 new Covid-19 clusters have been discovered in the last 24 hours, with the majority of them being located in Johor.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that out of the 17 new clusters, 13 were workplace related, two were found in communities while one cluster was found in a detention centre and another in a high risk group.
“Of the 17 new clusters, six were discovered in Johor, three each in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, two in Kedah and one each in Melaka, Sarawak and Perak,” he said.
The state's new low-risk quarantine and treatment centre (PKRC) at Pasir Gudang Indoor Stadium is expected to be fully operational on Feb 10.
State Health director Datuk Dr Aman Rabu said the PKRC was set up to accommodate the increasing number of Covid-19 patients in Johor.
He said the centre was modelled after the PKRC at the Malaysia Agro
Exposition Park (MAEPS) in Serdang.
The Sri Ledang National Service Training Centre (PLKN), Tangkak, will be made the second Covid-19 Low-Risk Treatment and Quarantine Centre (PKRC) in the state after the Pasir Gudang City Council (MBPG) Indoor Stadium which began operating today.
Mentri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad said this was part of the state government’s preparations in facing the rising number of positive cases of late.
“The number of beds and other facilities to be provided at the Sri Ledang PLKN Camp could not be determined yet during discussions with the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA),” he said via a virtual news conference on the Covid-19 situation in the state.
Employers including factory operators should be more proactive in informing the District Health Centre’s (PKD) Operations Room if there are Covid-19 positive cases discovered at their premises.
Johor State Health Department’s senior principal assistant director (Primer), Dr Suhaila Abdul Shukor said this was crucial as information given early could help with quick action to curb the viral infection.
She said during the Covid-19 pandemic, the community could not afford to be passive by only waiting for calls from the Ministry of Health.
Johor