COVID-19: 823 new cases, eight deaths recorded today - Health DG

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25  -- Malaysia today recorded new COVID-19 positive cases in the past 24 hours in three figures, at 823 cases, with eight more deaths reported.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that this brings the cumulative number of COVID-19 positive cases in the country to 26,565, while active cases with infectivity stands at 9,202.

He said that all the new cases were local transmissions, of which 533 were in Sabah.

“This number (cases in Sabah today) shows a drop of 356 cases (40 per cent) compared with the total number of cases reported in Sabah yesterday. This is due to the number of new cases recorded from Kepayan Prison, Kota Kinabalu having decreased from 434 reported yesterday, to 67 today.

"However, this number is still high compared with other states. Efforts are being made to track down more cases throughout Sabah which now has 17 red districts,” he said in a statement on the development of COVID-19 here today.

He said that of the 533 cases, 160 were from clusters, including 27 from new clusters, namely Titir Cluster, Omadal Cluster, Bandaran Cluster and Jambul Cluster. 270 cases were from close contact screening of COVID-19 positive cases and 103 cases from other COVID-19 screening tests.

He said that Penang recorded 97 cases, of which 96 were from clusters including two cases from a new cluster, the Bayan Cluster, and one case from close contact screening of COVID-19 positive case.

“In Selangor, there are 88 cases, with 39 cases are from clusters, including five cases from a new cluster, the Mentari Cluster, and 28 cases from close contact screening of positive COVID-19 cases and 21 cases from other COVID-19 screening tests.

“The Federal Territory of Labuan recorded 26 cases, with 22 cases from existing clusters, three cases of close contact screening of positive COVID-19 cases and one case from other COVID-19 screenings,” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said a total of 22 cases were recorded in Negeri Sembilan, namely, 13 cases from clusters including 11 cases from a new cluster, the Jernih Cluster, one case from close contact screening of positive COVID-19 cases and eight cases from other COVID-19 screenings.

He said that Sarawak recorded 16 cases, of which seven were from clusters including four from a new cluster, the Seladah Cluster, and nine from other COVID-19 screenings, while in Johor, 15 cases were recorded, with 14 from existing clusters and one from screening of those returning from Sabah.

Meanwhile, in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, 10 cases were recorded, with five from existing clusters, one case from close contact screening of positive COVID-19 cases and four cases from other COVID-19 screenings, he said.

“In Terengganu, there are seven cases from a new cluster, the Makekar Cluster, while six cases in Perak consist of five from existing clusters and one case from close contact screening of COVID-19 positive cases.

“Kedah, on the other hand, recorded one case from an existing cluster, Kelantan recorded one case from close contact screening of COVID-19 positive cases, while Putrajaya reported one case from an existing cluster,” he said.

He added that of the total cases recorded today, 162 cases are from the Seberang Perai Cluster (Penang), the Kepayan Prison Cluster (Sabah) and the Tembok Cluster (Kedah), which are isolated within the areas placed under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO).

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said that 579 recovered cases of COVID-19 were recorded today, bringing the cumulative number of cases that had fully recovered from COVID-19 to 17,134 cases (64.5 per cent of the total cases).

He said that thus far, there are 99 positive cases of COVID-19 being treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), of which 30 cases require respiratory assistance.

-- BERNAMA