COVID: 4,214 new cases after three straight days of over 5,000 infections - Health DG

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 1 -- After three straight days of recording over 5,000 new COVID-19 cases, the country’s daily tally saw a drop after 4,214 new cases were reported overnight. 

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the numbers were also lower than the 4,280 recovery cases reported, taking the recovery tally to 170,329 cases or 77.7 per cent of the total number of cases.

He said the country’s infection tally now stands at 219,173 cases, with 48,074 of them active cases. 

“Of the new cases, nine were imported and 4,205 were local transmissions,” he said in a statement on COVID-19 developments today.  

Dr Noor Hisham said Selangor remains the state with the highest daily new cases with 1,362 infections, followed by Johor (1,068) and Kuala Lumpur (702).

This is followed by Sabah (276 cases); Perak (193); Penang (119); Sarawak (105); Negeri Sembilan (91); Melaka (85); Kelantan (57); Pahang (54); Kedah (47); Terengganu (38); Putrajaya (10) and Labuan with seven cases. 

Dr Noor Hisham said 316 patients were being treated in the intensive care unit, with 137 of them intubated. 

Also, 10 fatalities were reported today, taking the country’s death toll to 770. 

The deaths involved seven male and three female patients, all Malaysians aged between 26 and 87, with eight of them suffering from underlying illnesses. 

Dr Noor Hisham said 14 new clusters were reported today, with the country now having 401 active clusters, 73 of which recorded an increase in cases. 

Of these new clusters, nine involve workplaces, namely Tapak Bina Jalan Lagoon and Industri Puchong in Selangor; Persiaran Raya and Lapangan Siber (Perak); Kampung Parit Masjid (Johor); Tapak Bina Jalan Puchong (Kuala Lumpur); Ladang Sungai Pin (Sabah); Bintang Daily (Sarawak) and Nilam Tiga in Negeri Sembilan.

Three more identified as high-risk clusters were Jalan Empat and Jalan Tan in Kuala Lumpur, and Sungai Purun in Selangor, while the two community-based clusters identified were Kampung Samin and Padas Damit in Sabah.

“The clusters which recorded the highest increase in cases today were Tapak Bina Jalan Puchong (322 cases), Tapak Bina Jalan Chulan (85) and Tembok Taiping (81),” Dr Noor Hisham said.

So far, 430 clusters have ended, including five today, namely Tembok, GK Tawau, Sentosa Residensi, Menara Wang and Maringkan, he added. 

-- BERNAMA