Covid-19 Watch: 293 new cases, nationwide ICU bed usage at 61pc

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia recorded 293 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday (Jan 21), bringing the total number of cases in the country to 5,034,521 infections since the pandemic began.

The Health Ministry's KKMNow portal reported that all of Friday's new Covid-19 cases were local transmissions with no imported infections being logged.

Recoveries outpaced new infections, with 326 patients recovering on Saturday. This brings the cumulative number of recoveries in Malaysia to 4,987,269 since the pandemic began.

The portal also reported that there were 10,320 active cases currently in the country, with 9,942, or 96.3%, observing home quarantine.

The KKMNow portal reported that 366 patients, or 3.5% of the total, were currently admitted to hospital for treatment. The number of Covid-19 patients warded at intensive care units (ICU) throughout the country stands at 12, with 10 of these patients requiring ventilation support.

The ICU utilisation rate nationwide stood at 61%, with 10 states or localities recording ICU usage rates of more than 60%.

Kelantan had the highest ICU utilisation rate at 76.7%, followed by Selangor (73.2%), Putrajaya (71.4%), Johor (68.8%), Terengganu (68.6%), Kedah (65.9%), Neger Sembilan (65.3%), Sabah (62.1%), Melaka (60.7%) and Perak (60%).

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry's GitHub data repository reported that there were two Covid-19 deaths reported on Saturday bringing the death toll up to 36,932.