Covid-19: 862 new cases, three new fatalities bring death toll to 193

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia recorded 862 new Covid-19 infections on Tuesday (Oct 20), making it the fourth day in a row of cases being above the 800 mark, says the Health Ministry.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said at a press conference that three new Covid-19 fatalities were reported in Sabah, bringing the country’s death toll to 193.

They are a 78-year-old man and a 59-year-old woman who died at Tawau Hospital as well as a 90-year-old woman at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu.

INTERACTIVE: Latest figures (Malaysia)

He said that the three are Malaysians and added that they have a history of high blood pressure and heart disease.

Dr Noor Hisham also said that Malaysia discharged 634 patients, which means the total number of recoveries is 14,351.

He added that Sabah has the highest recoveries with 433 cases, while the number of active cases in the country has gone up to 7,681.

On the breakdown of cases, Dr Noor Hisham said the bulk of the new cases continued to come from Sabah, with 673 new infections reported in the state alone.

Selangor is the second highest state with 132 new cases.

Other states that recorded new cases are Kedah (17 cases), Perak (nine), Penang (eight), Labuan (six), Negri Sembilan (six), Kuala Lumpur (six), Putrajaya (one), Johor (one) and Kelantan (one) while Pahang, Melaka, Terengganu and Perlis reported zero new cases.

There are two new import cases which were detected in Sarawak and Kuala Lumpur.

INTERACTIVE: Latest figures (Worldwide)

The rest were all local transmissions, including four returnees from Sabah.

In total, Malaysia recorded 22,225 Covid-19 cases since January.

Currently, 95 people are being treated at intensive care units, with 29 of them requiring ventilator support.