The stubbornness and selfishness of some people who travelled and visited others during the Hari Raya and Hari Gawai seasons resulted in 60 COVID-19 clusters and 20 deaths.

The numbers include 58 involving Hari Raya Aidilfitri and two involving Hari Gawai recorded between 13 May and 10 June 2021.

Thousands tested positive

Festive cluster

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, in a statement, said 13,023 people were tested from the clusters and 3,511 tested positive for COVID-19.

Out of the 27% of people found positive, 20 ended up dead and 11 more are still being treated at intensive care units (ICU).

The states with the highest number of festive clusters are Sabah with 11 clusters, Sarawak with eight clusters, and Kedah with 7 clusters.


Cases by state

"The increase in the cases and death reported under the festive clusters is serious and worrying as it happened in a short period of time.

"If the people are still complacent and do not learn from the effect of visiting and crossing state borders during festive seasons, it is not impossible that the country will see sudden surge in cases again.

"It's everyone's responsibility to protect the vulnerable, especially weak and sick parents in kampung by not exposing them to the SARSS-CoV-2 virus," Dr Noor Hisham said in the statement.

He added that we should emulate neighbouring countries that have managed COVID-19 well.

"They have proven that with the cooperation of all parties and adherence to outlined standard operation procedure (SOP), normal life is a possibility," he said.

Dr Noor Hisham urged Malaysians to continue staying at home and register for vaccination to achieve herd immunity, which will create a safe environment for everyone.

Listen to the good doctor, guys. We can't beat the virus if we don't stand together.