Covid-19: Record high of 138 fatalities bring death toll to 6,866

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia recorded the highest daily Covid-19 fatality count on Saturday (July 17) at 138 deaths, bringing the overall death toll to 6,866.

Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah warned Malaysians against sparking new clusters by visiting one another or travelling beyond state lines for Hari Raya Aidiladha this week, reminding the public of the many Covid-19 clusters that came about due to negligent behaviour during past celebrations and festival periods.

“The Health Ministry would like to call on the community to take heed and not repeat irresponsible attitudes, especially during the Hari Raya Aidiladha celebration which will be celebrated on Tuesday (July 20).

"The community is reminded that cross-district and interstate travel bans are still in force. So is the ban on visitations to celebrate the festival. Don't let the excitement of celebrating Hari Raya Aidiladha cause all of us to be 'sacrificed' to Covid-19,” he said in a statement.

According to Dr Noor Hisham, more than 98% of the 12,528 new Covid-19 cases reported over the past 24 hours were either asymptomatic, or only had mild symptoms. More than half the new cases (6,840) or 54.6% were classified as Category 1 (asymptomatic), and 5,468 cases (43.6%) in Category 2 (mild symptoms).

A total of 112 cases, or 0.9% were classified as Category 3 (experiencing lung inflammation), and 44 cases (0.4%) were in Category 4, meaning they are experiencing lung inflammation and require oxygen. Sixty-four cases, or 0.5% were in Category 5, which means they are critical cases requiring ventilator support.

Of the new cases, 19 were imported cases, while 12,509 were local infections.

Selangor again recorded the highest daily number with 4,985 cases. This was followed by Kuala Lumpur (1,740 cases), Negeri Sembilan (1,280), Kedah (701), Sabah (647) and Johor (625). Three states that recorded the fewest cases were Perlis (1), Labuan (22), and Putrajaya (41).

There were also 6,629 recoveries nationwide for a total of 779,171 recoveries to date.

The number of active cases is now 119,814, while Malaysia’s Covid-19 cumulative total cases is 905,851.

Of the active cases, 908 are in intensive care units (ICU), with 425 requiring ventilator support.

A total of 28 new Covid-19 clusters were also reported, bringing the total number of active clusters to 906. The new clusters were from workplaces (19), communities (6), high-risk groups (2) and an education centre (1).