Authorities Say Utama Cluster Has 105 Cases While 1 Utama Management Claims There Are 22
The management of 1 Utama's claim, however, does not tally with the numbers released by the Ministry of Health (MOH).
By Sadho Ram — 15 Oct 2020, 11:23 AM — Updated almost 4 years ago
As of Thursday morning, 15 October, COVID-19 cases from 1 Utama Shopping Centre in Bandar Utama, Selangor, has gone past 100
In an update, the Petaling District Disaster Management Committee (Petaling JPBD) said that the number of infected cases which was at 63 until Wednesday afternoon, 14 October, has now increased to 105 cases.
According to the update by Petaling JPBD, the Utama Cluster has seen a spike in cases since yesterday, which now includes 79 security guards (up from previous 44) and 18 cleaners.
Yesterday, Petaling JPBD had issued a statement about the ongoing COVID-19 screening at 1 Utama, stating that there were 63 positive cases that included three shoppers and 44 security guards.
The management of 1 Utama, however, has since refuted Petaling JPBD's report about the 63 cases reported at its premises
In a statement posted at 9am this morning, 15 October, the management refuted Petaling JPBD's Wednesday report that 63 cases were recorded at 1 Utama as of 14 October.
"[We] wish to clarify that 1 Utama does not have 63 [COVID-19] cases," read the statement.
"It is misleading to imply that all cases stated in their [Petaling JPBD] report originated from 1 Utama as no index case has been identified as coming from 1 Utama," the management added in the statement.
According to the management, 1 Utama has 22 cases
Mass testing of 6,000 staff at the complex found 22 positive cases, the statement stated.
"We have yesterday concluded test results and successfully identified 20 tenant staff and one mall management staff as COVID-19 positive," it said, adding that these 22 persons have been "swiftly quarantined" by the Ministry of Health (MOH) to contain the spread and further minimise potential exposure.
However, the management's claim about 22 cases do not tally with the numbers from MOH that were released during Wednesday's press briefing, in which 27 cases were recorded under Utama Cluster.
On the 44 security guards who have tested positive, the management said that they were "not part of the 6,000 mass testing" exercise
They also "do not originate from 1 Utama's premises", according to the statement.
"They are, in fact, outsourced contract guards from a third-party service provider where COVID-19 was contracted through a dormitory and not within our premises," the statement read.
It added that when MOH informed them of one guard testing positive through the ministry's contact tracing, they "removed all guards under his company for re-testing and to only re-deploy after cleared".
We are not yet sure about the reason behind the different numbers
We will update this story once we get more information from MOH later today, 15 October.
