Johor Health and Environment Committee chairman R. Vidyananthan said the widespread movement across state borders caused interstate transmission to continue. — Picture by Ben Tan
JOHOR BARU, Aug 26 ― The Johor government has identified movement across the state’s borders as the main cause of the spike in Covid-19 cases here.
Johor Health and Environment Committee chairman R. Vidyananthan said the widespread movement across state borders caused interstate transmission to continue.
He said the trend of increasing Covid-19 cases in Johor was detected since July with the highest number reported yesterday at 2,785 cases, where 1,228 cases were positive close contacts.
“The contributing factor to the increase in new cases in Johor is also partly due to the increase in cases that occur throughout the country, especially in states with low vaccine rates,” said Vidyananthan in a statement issued here today.
He was commenting after Johor recorded 2,785 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, which is the highest ever registered in the state so far.
Vidyananthan also pointed out that the surge in clusters was also the main contributor to the increase in cases for the state.
He said yesterday alone there were 10 new clusters reported, namely five industrial clusters, two community clusters and three institutional clusters involving the Johor Baru, Kulai, Kota Tinggi and Kluang districts.
Vidyananthan explained that the industrial clusters accounted for 72 per cent of the active clusters, involving a total of 12,201 active Covid-19 cases.
“Community clusters are also increasingly being reported, accounting for 10 per cent of the current active clusters, involving a total of 1,246 cases.
“The high number of positive close contacts indicates weaknesses in compliance with the existing standard operating procedures (SOPs) in the community.
“Many communities have also been detected to have ignored the 3Cs (crowded place, confined space and close conversation),” he said.
Vidyananthan, who is also the Kahang assemblyman, said Johor is still in Phase One of the National Rehabilitation Plan (NRP).
He reminded the public that it was their responsibility to avoid risking themselves or their families, and to take Covid-19 seriously.
“We need to reduce the movement or activities of visiting families to curb the spread among the community,” said Vidyananthan.