22, 63 or 105? A Timeline of Updates On Cluster Utama

There’s currently a confusion of the number of cases actually reported in the Cluster Utama. The shopping centre has been closed from 11 October 2020 due to the rising number of cases.

To curb with this, 1 Utama became the first shopping mall to conduct mass testing on 6,000 of their tenant and mall staffs.

Here’s a breakdown of the difference in case numbers reported by 1 Utama shopping centre and Petaling District Office:

10 October 2020

• 1 Utama shopping complex was ordered to close down by the JBPD after four positive Covid-19 cases were reported involving three employees and one mall-visitor. Those in close contact with the positive cases were asked to self-isolate and swab-tested.

14 October 2020

• JPBD released a statement saying that 63 positive cases have been reported in the cluster with 59 cases from the Petaling district and the remaining four from outside the Petaling district.The cases breakdown were as follow:
  • Complex Management Worker: 1 case
  • Complex Worker: 15 cases (12 cases inside Petaling district + 3 cases outside Petaling district)
  • Security Personnel: 44 cases
  • Mall visitors: 3 cases (2 cases Petaling district +1 case outside Petaling district)

15 October 2020, 8am

• JPBD released another statement regarding the cases that have increased from the Utama Cluster from 63 cases on the previous day to 105 cases today.
• The cases breakdown were as follow:
  • 79 Security Personnel
  • 18 Cleaners
  • 1 tenant working at C&C cookies
  • 1 tenant staff working at Daiso
  • 6 tenant staffs working at Teh Tarik Place

15 October 2020, 9am

• 1 Utama released a statement to refute the statement released by JBPD. They clarified that 1 Utama does NOT have 63 Covid-19 cases.
• From the 6,000 people they tested, they concluded yesterday (14 October), they identified 20 tenant staff and 1 mall management staff as Covid-19 positive. These 21 persons have been swiftly quarantined by KKM to contain the spread and further minimize potential exposure.
• The statement also rectified that the 44 positive Covid-19 of security guards mentioned in the JBPD’s report did NOT originate from 1 Utama and were not part of the 6,000 mass testings that they conducted.
• The guards were outsourced contract guards from a third-party service provider where Covid-19 was contracted through a dormitory and not within their premises.
• According to 1 Utama, they currently only have 22 positive Covid-19 cases (21 + 1 guard who was found positive through MOH’s tracing)

Stay tuned for more updates!

Also read: 1 Utama Clarifies That They Only Recorded 22 Positive Cases, Not 63 As Stated In JBPD Report