The Health Ministry has detected 149 COVID-19 cases in Langkawi, Kedah, since the domestic tourism bubble programme began on Sept 16.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the cases were found after screening 40,458 visitors at multiple entry points at the popular tourism destination.

"A total of 36,842 people were screened using the rapid test kit antigen (RTK-Ag) and 149 tested positive, while 186 oghers were identified as close contacts to the confirmed cases," Noor Hisham said in a statement yesterday, reported New Straits Times.

All of them were isolated and instructed to undergo the Home Surveillance Order (HSO), he added.

Meanwhile, a popular hotel in Langkawi has been ordered to temporarily close after 59 of its staff tested positive for the virus, reported The Star.

According to the report, the infection originated from the community and spread to the hotel, before turning into a workplace cluster.

Langkawi was the pilot project for the country's travel bubble initiative, when it reopened for fully vaccinated individuals.

Yesterday, there were 8,075 new COVID-19 cases, marking the second consecutive day where cases below the 10,000 were reported.

So far, more than 2.28 million people have been infected with COVID-19, and 26,759 people have died from the virus in the country.

The global coronavirus infection and death tally has surpassed 236 million and 4.82 million, respectively.


Source: NST, The Star
Photo source: Malaysiakini