PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia continues to record more than 4,000 daily Covid-19 cases with 4,519 new cases in the past 24 hours, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
He said the new cases brought the cumulative Covid-19 cases in the country to 436,944 cases.
Selangor, he added was still reporting the highest cases with 1,722 cases followed by Kuala Lumpur (557) and Sarawak (479).
“In the past 24 hours, there were 2,719 recovery cases recorded, taking the cumulative recovery cases to 398,723. There are now 36,564 active cases,” he told a media conference on the development of Covid-19 situation here today.
He said there were 393 Covid-19 patients in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with 210 of them on ventilators while fatalities due to the disease rose to 1,657 cases following 25 new cases reported today.
On new clusters, Dr Noor Hisham said 16 new clusters were identified today involving eight workplace clusters, six community clusters as well as one cluster each from a religious premises and an education institution under the Education Ministry (KPM).
The clusters linked to workplace involved Kampung Kebun Sayur and Jalan Desaru in Johor; Jalan Lima Puluh Satu and Jalan Padang Golf in Selangor; Jalan Stadium 2 in Selangor and KL3 wholesale market in Kuala Lumpur; Jalan Era in Negeri Sembilan and Jalan Limbungan Jaya in Melaka.
“The community clusters involved Bechah Palas and Lorong Kubor clusters in Kelantan; Jelalong in Sarawak; Dah Putih in Kedah; Rantau Siantan in Pahang; and Keramat in Sabah; while the religious cluster is the Jalan Mawar 20 cluster in Johor and lastly the KPM education institution in Jalan Batu Maung in Penang,” he said.
In this regard, Dr Noor Hisham said Malaysia needs to learn from the Covid-19 situation in India where cases kept rising each day leading to a breakdown of the health system in the country and in several other countries facing the same situation so that such a situation does not happen in the country.
However, he said the sharp rise in Covid-19 cases in the country is worrying and the Health Ministry (MOH) is concerned the situation in India can occur in Malaysia if no drastic actions are taken quickly.
“As at noon today, the cumulative cases of Malaysia have reached 436,944 cases. According to the current Rt value of 1.10 projection, it is estimated that daily cases would reach 5,000 in two to three weeks.
“However, the daily cases reported for the past two consecutive days (yesterday and today) are fast approaching 5,000 cases. As such, MOH will continue to be prepared in the field including public health measures,” he said.
Apart from that, he said MOH is also looking at expanding hospital capacity so that positive cases which require warding at Low-risk Covid-19 Quarantine and Treatment Centres (PKRC), hospitals and ICU could be implemented accordingly. — Bernama
