Daily new Covid-19 infections down to the lowest this year

KUALA LUMPUR: The country logged the lowest daily new Covid-19 infections this year with 1,063 new cases recorded up to noon yesterday.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said only four out of these new infections were imported cases, while the rest (1,059 cases) were local transmissions.

Yesterday’s new cases, he said, had pushed the country’s cumulative positive cases to 326,034.

“Selangor accounted for the highest number of new cases at 323 cases, followed by Sarawak at 183 cases; Penang (175 cases), Johor (91 cases) and Kuala Lumpur (86 cases).

“Perlis and Putrajaya, however, did not report any new infections, while Melaka and Labuan each logged only one new case yesterday,” he said.

On fatalities, he said the Health Ministry received reports of five new deaths yesterday, raising the total number of Covid-19 fatalities to 1,218.

Three of these fatalities were recorded in Sarawak and one each in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, he said.

He added that all cases involved locals aged between 69 and 84 and all of them had underlying illnesses, including high blood pressure and diabetes.

Dr Noor Hisham said 152 patients were currently being treated at Intensive Care Units, including 68 who were on respiratory support.

The country reported five new Covid-19 clusters yesterday, including two workplace-linked clusters and three community clusters, in the last 24 hours.

Dr Noor Hisham said the cumulative total number of active clusters currently stood at 1,255.

Sarawak reported three clusters, while Kelantan and Kuala Lumpur each recorded one cluster.

As for the workplace-linked cluster, the Jalan Taiping cluster involved workers in a public administrative centre in Titiwangsa and the 137 people had been screened with eight tested positive to date.

Another workplace cluster was the Jalan Sanyan cluster, involving workers of a supermarket in Sibu.

“Up to Tuesday, 19 people have been screened and all tested positive,” said the health directorgeneral.

The Nanga Bulo cluster in Julau, Sarawak, following screening of symptomatic individuals, had reported a total of 34 cases as of noon yesterday, he said.

The Banggol Chicha cluster in Pasir Mas, Kelantan reported 17 new infections out of 87 people who were screened.

In Sibu, Sarawak, the Jalan Kampung Hilir cluster was reported after the index case tested positive in a screening of symptomatic individuals on March 12.

The cluster had 35 positive cases .

The Health Ministry said eight clusters had ended yesterday, namely the Jalan Day, Package Pengerang, Permata Satu, Lasah, Jalan Sepanggar, Jalan Padi Mahsuri, Putra Tujuh and Kampung Parit Masjid clusters.