New cases pass 20,000 again

PETALING JAYA: The Covid-19 daily new cases has passed the 20,000 mark again with a total of 20,475 recorded cases.

However, Klang Valley – Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor – continues to see a downward trend in the number of infections. Yesterday, Selangor reported 4,371 cases, followed by Sabah (2,594), Sarawak (2,285), Johor (2,159), Kedah (1,942) and Penang (1,732). Three states recorded below 100 cases – Perlis (64), Putrajaya (25) and Labuan (one).

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 20,475 cases (98.0%) out of the total of 20,897 cases reported were in Categories One and Two for mild and asymptomatic cases.

Only 422 cases (2.0%) were in Categories Three, Four and Five.

“Overall, 15,371 or 73.6% of the total cases reported were those who had not received their vaccination or had yet to be fully inoculated.”

He said 1,005 patients were in the intensive care unit, with 464 requiring respiratory support.

“Another 282 deaths were recorded with 98 of these being brought-in-dead. Selangor topped the highest death toll with 139 cases, followed by Johor (52), Kuala Lumpur (21) and Sabah (15),” he said.

Twenty-two new clusters were also recorded, out of which 11 were linked to the workplace.

“The Health Ministry data showed that the infectivity rate for the country remained at 1.02, with Perlis recording the highest at 1.22, followed by Sarawak (1.19) and Sabah (1.12).

“All of the states recorded an infectivity rate of over 1.0, except for Melaka, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Labuan and Negri Sembilan,” said Dr Noor Hisham.

In conjunction with National Day, Dr Noor Hisham also called on Malaysians to unite as a team in protecting the country from the virus by getting vaccinated and adhering to standard operating procedures (SOP).

“The ministry would like to thank the frontliners and back-end officers who have worked tirelessly against the nation’s enemy, which is Covid-19.

“Not to be forgotten, I would like to express my gratitude towards all Malaysians who continue to follow the SOP in place.

“May Malaysia be ‘merdeka’ from the threat of the virus and our lives return to normal.”