129 deaths, cases still above 10,000

KUALA

LUMPUR: Malaysia reported 10,972 Covid-19 new cases and lost 129 lives to Covid-19 yesterday.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 118 of the dead were Malaysians.

“The 129 fatalities for today include 80 men and 49 women. 13 of them were classified as Brought in Dead,” he said in a statement.

The highest number of deaths is in Selangor at 61, followed by Kedah with 14 and KL at 11.

Kelantan and Labuan had one death each, followed by Sabah, Perak and Penang with two cases each, and Terengganu and Sarawak with three cases each.

This brings the total number of deaths from Covid-19 to 7,148, or 0.77 per cent of all cases since the disease broke out in Malaysia.

The Health Ministry also recorded 915 patients requiring treatment in intensive care units (ICU) nationwide, out of the 10,972 cases recorded yesterday.

Dr Noor Hisham said 435 patients in ICU are intubated.

The highest recorded number of Covid-19 patients in ICU was 972 on July 13.

The highest number of deaths in a single day was July 17 at 138.

On a more positive note, the ministry also recorded 6,439 patients discharged yesterday,

The 129 fatalities for today include 80 men and 49 women. 13 of them were classified as Brought in Dead. Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah

bringing the total number of recoveries in Malaysia to 791,388 or 85.3 per cent of all cases.

Earlier, the director-general tweeted that the country is still reporting more than 10,000 Covid-19 new cases when 10,972 cases were recorded yesterday, bringing the cumulative total to 927,533 cases.

Dr Noor Hisham said Selangor was still the top contributor with 4,404 new cases detected.

This was followed by Negeri Sembilan with 1,340 cases, Johor (876), Kedah (705), Sabah (651), Kuala Lumpur (609), Pahang (475), Melaka (474), Penang (426), Perak (324), Sarawak (301), Kelantan (170) and Terengganu (144).

Putrajaya reported 48 cases, Labuan (24) and Perlis with one case.

Dr Noor Hisham also said that the acceleration of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme has greatly reduced the number of serious cases among the elderly.

He said yesterday’s data from Hospital Sungai Buloh showed a marked decrease in Category Four and Category Five cases among patients aged 60 and above.

He said this trend began in the 23rd Epidemiology Week and is in line with the start of the second phase of the national immunisation programme in early April when the government focused on injecting the elderly and others deemed at high risk with the Covid-19 vaccine.

Malaysia rolled out the immunisation programme in February and the first phase prioritised frontliners.

Dr Noor Hisham also said that all senior citizens aged 60 and above in KL and Selangor who have yet to obtain their first vaccination appointment can now enter any authorised vaccination centre for their jab.

He said the vaccination centres will continue to operate on public holidays and weekends.

“These steps are in line with the ministry’s commitment to build herd immunity as soon as possible,” he said.