KUALA LUMPUR: A record high of 17,045 Covid-19 cases were reported in Malaysia today, bringing the cumulative figure for infections past the one million mark at 1,013,438, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
The new cases topped yesterday’s figure of 15,902, which was then the highest recorded since the pandemic hit the country in March last year.
Dr Noor, in a Facebook post today, said Selangor again topped the list with 8,500 cases, followed by Kuala Lumpur with 2,045, and Kedah, 1,216 cases.
Johor had 950 cases, followed by Sabah (818), Perak (609), Penang (573), Negeri Sembilan (513), Pahang (424), Sarawak (407), Melaka (370), Terengganu (273), Kelantan (266), Putrajaya (50), Labuan (21) and Perlis (10).
Meanwhile, in an official statement, Dr Noor Hisham said that the new cases today comprised 17,039 local transmissions and six imported cases.
He said of the total number of cases reported today, 187 cases were from category five (critical and in need of respiratory assistance), 124 in category four (pneumonia and in need of oxygen assistance), 122 in category three (pneumonia), 7,489 in category two (mild symptomatic), and 9,123 in category one (non-symptomatic).
Overall, 2.5 per cent of the cases reported today were in categories three, four and five when first diagnosed, which means there were 433 cases that needed to be placed in hospitals, which are growing more congested.
“Therefore, the community is urged to continue to adhere to standard operating procedures (SOPs), avoid gatherings, especially in narrow and poorly ventilated places, and immediately get an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine to be protected from the threat posed by the disease,“ he said.
Apart from that, he said in the same period, 9,683 recoveries were also recorded, the highest single-day total so far, taking the tally of recoveries to date to 844,541.
The latest development brings the total number of active cases to 160,903, while 970 cases are being treated in the intensive care unit (ICU), including 501 of whom require respiratory assistance.
A total of 92 new deaths were also reported, bringing the death toll due to the pandemic in Malaysia to 7,994 people.
Dr Noor Hisham said based on the data as of yesterday, Malaysia’s average infectivity rate (RT) was 1.11, while the states that recorded the highest RT value was Terengganu with 1.36, followed by Kelantan (1.29) and Kedah (1.23).
Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said there were 34 new clusters detected, with 18 involving the workplace, 15 (community) and one involving the high-risk group.-Bernama
