Another record daily high with 1,884 new cases

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia hit a record daily high of 1,882 new Covid-19 infections, with Selangor leading the surge in cases.

Previously, the most number of new infections in a single day was 1,755, which was recorded on Nov 6.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said Selangor recorded almost 64% (1,203) of the latest infections.

Sabah, which had often “topped” the list, saw 289 cases or 15.3%.

Kuala Lumpur reported 196 cases or 10.4%.

“The high number of new Covid-19 cases in the Klang Valley is mainly due to the clusters that are linked to workplaces, such as the Teratai cluster which has 1,067 cases and the Damanlela cluster with 101 cases, ” Dr Noor Hisham explained during the Covid-19 daily briefing yesterday.

The Teratai cluster is linked to workers of Top Glove factories in Klang, while the Damanlela cluster is related to a shopping mall construction site in Kuala Lumpur.

The Health Ministry has also detected four new clusters, of which two were in the Klang Valley area (Bintang cluster and Indah Mas cluster), while the other were in Johor (Kobena cluster) and Perak (Teja Kasih cluster).

Dr Noor Hisham said the Bintang cluster, which has 95 cases linked to it, involved workers of a construction site in the Lembah Pantai district.

As of yesterday, there are 168 active clusters in Malaysia.

Mobile convenience: A worker from a Sandakan health office conducting a swab test at a drive-through facility at Taman Tyng, Sabah. The event, which was the first to be held in the district, is part of the Health Department’s efforts to make Covid-19 screenings more accessible to local residents, with full safety precautions during the process. — Bernama

In total, Malaysia’s caseload stood at 56,659 cases since January.

Yesterday, 883 patients were discharged, making it 42,480 people who have recovered from the virus so far.

Active cases, or number of patients who are currently under hospital care, have gone up to 13,842.

There are 115 patients in intensive care units, with 48 of them requiring ventilator support.

Dr Noor Hisham also said there were two new deaths - an 80-year-old man at the Duchess of Kent Hospital in Sandakan and a 58-year-old woman at the Sabah’s Women and Children Hospital.

The Covid-19 death toll is now 337.

Dr Noor Hisham also said the latest Covid-19 mortality statistics revealed that 64% of deaths involved those who were at least 60 years old.

The findings also showed that at least 87% of the deaths have at least one underlying health condition.

“That’s why we have always advised the people; if you are from a red zone, you should be wary about going to see the elderly and the vulnerable.

“Those returning to the kampung may be carrying the virus if they are from a red zone area. The vulnerable group does not have strong antibodies, so we must protect them, ” he said.