Recoveries exceed new cases with 2,230 discharged

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia recorded more recoveries compared to the number of new Covid-19 cases on New Year’s Day after a total of 2,230 Covid-19 patients were discharged in the last 24 hours.

This means a total of 91,171 people have recovered from the virus.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 2,068 new cases were reported on the same day, taking the country’s total confirmed cases to 115,078.

However, three more people died, raising Malaysia’s Covid-19 death toll to 474.

The number of people with active Covid-19 infections had also gone up to 23,433.

Currently, 126 patients are in intensive care, with 554 requiring ventilator support.

Dr Noor Hisham said from the total, only two were imported cases.

Selangor, he said, once again led the tally with a total of 776 cases, followed by Kuala Lumpur (457) and Sabah (254).

According to him, prison and Immigration depot clusters contributed 18 cases.

The three deaths recorded yesterday were a 69-year-old man from Negri Sembilan who died at Hospital Tuanku Jaafar, a 94-year-old man from Selangor and a 58-year-old woman from Kuala Lumpur, both of whom died at Hospital Sungai Buloh.

The Health Ministry has identified three new Covid-19 clusters in Selangor, Johor and Penang.

Among them is the Rawa Akasia cluster, where 117 confirmed positive Covid-19 cases were detected.

“This cluster involves the district of north east, southwest Seberang Perai Tengah and Seberang Perai Selatan for Penang.

“A total of 322 individuals were tested and 117 were positive for Covid-19, ” said Dr Noor Hisham.

He revealed that a total of 20 people tested positive in the Jalan Perindustrian cluster.

“The working site cluster involved the district of Kulai in Johor. The index case for this cluster tested positive on Dec 28 via a targeted screening at the site.

“A total of 95 individuals were screened, with a total of 20 cases confirmed positive in the cluster, ” he said.

For the Rantau Semarak cluster, a total of 18 positive cases were identified.

“The cluster involved the district of Maran in Pahang and the district of Gombak in Selangor.

“The index case for this cluster reported positive for Covid-19 on Dec 28.

“A total of 69 individuals were tested, where 18 positive cases were found in this cluster, ” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham also announced that 290 clusters had been declared as closed, after recording zero cases for 28 days straight.