New COVID-19 cluster stems from Cheras mall
A new COVID-19 cluster in Cheras involves a mall’s security personnel.
Image adapted from: Astro Awani and TripAdvisor
While Malaysia has shown significant progress in containing the COVID-19 pandemic, the daily statistics show that we still can’t afford to be lax. Just yesterday, 7th May 2020, it was announced that a new COVID-19 cluster has been discovered from an unnamed mall in Cheras. As of noon yesterday, the cluster was made up of 10 security personnel who tested positive.
Although the Ministry of Health had left the mall in question unnamed in its announcement, Malaysians have been speculating that it is MyTOWN – a popular mall that’s linked by MRT Cochrane and IKEA Cheras.
Security personnel’s cramped living conditions set off the chain of infections
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah addressed the press yesterday to clarify the matter, saying that out of the 10 confirmed COVID-19 patients in the cluster, 1 is Malaysian while the other 9 are Nepalis. According to The Star, He also reassured concerned Malaysians that the new cluster is being thoroughly investigated, and mall workers and patients’ close contacts have already been screened.
Image credit: Astro Awani
He continued to share that cramped living arrangements may have largely contributed to the chain of infections among the Nepalis security personnel. Similar to other clusters that involved foreign workers, their living conditions allowed the virus to spread more easily.
According to The Edge Markets, the government has administered tests to all other residents in the housing complex to better monitor the situation and contain the COVID-19 spread.
Netizens’ speculation lead to “MyTOWN” trending on Twitter
Malaysians were understandably worried after the recent announcement and did some sleuthing around to find out which Cheras mall the new cluster is from. Mere hours after, the keywords “mytown” and “cheras” began trending on Twitter with over 1,900 and 9,000 mentions respectively.
Image adapted from: Twitter
Netizens online began sharing their speculations that the unnamed Cheras mall in question is actually MyTOWN, and this is because the mall had just recently confirmed that one of their outsourced security personnel has tested positive. The mall had addressed this issue in a Facebook post dated 1st May 2020. In a follow-up the next day, the mall revealed that another security guard was tested positive, bringing the number up to 2.
Image adapted from: MyTOWN Shopping Centre
In an update yesterday, MyTown addressed the issue of the new Cheras mall cluster. Besides carrying out sanitisation works on 3rd May 2020, they have also ordered their security personnel to undergo quarantine. All staff working at MyTOWN have also been tested for COVID-19, with results coming back negative.
Image adapted from: MyTOWN Shopping Centre
New COVID-19 cluster days after CMCO implemented.
The conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) was implemented on 4th May 2020 after the country began seeing a steady decrease in new COVID-19 cases as an attempt to revive the economy. While Malaysians can now enjoy loosened restrictions including dining-in at restaurants and shopping at malls, we are still urged to take the necessary safety precautions when outside.
After all, the country is still recording a daily 2-digit number of new COVID-19 cases with over 1,500 active cases. And with news of the new Cheras cluster, it gives us all the more reason to remain vigilant until the pandemic has been properly dealt with.
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