KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 caseload saw a drastic increase with 3,245 new infections today, said Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in a statement.
The health director-general added that this brings the cumulative number of cases to 2,813,934.
Today’s caseload is a stark increase of almost a thousand new infections from yesterday’s recorded cases of 2,342.
Nonetheless, the nation also recorded 3,093 recoveries, making the total recovered cases 2,741,355.
He added that of the new cases reported today, 183 are in intensive care units while 84 of them require respiratory assistance.
“Among the 3,245 cases recorded today, 39 (1.2%) involved patients in categories 3, 4, and 5 while 3,206 (98.8%) involved patients in categories 1 and 2,” he said.
The nation has seen a total of 6,235 clusters since the beginning of the pandemic, including 17 new clusters detected today.
The number of clusters that have ended are at 6,047 while 188 remain active.
While the nation records a national Covid-19 infectivity rate (Rt) of 0.98, the statement noted that Kuala Lumpur registered the highest rate at an Rt of 1.06.
Among the daily infections today, 186 cases were of the Omicron variant.
Dr Noor Hisham also reported that the final flood relief centre in Segamat, Johor had been closed, with all flood victims returning home amid improving weather conditions.
Besides no new Covid-19 cases being reported today among flood victims, there were also no new incidents of infectious diseases.
According to him, a total of 2,461 flood victims were affected by such ailments, with 1,518 of them being cases of acute respiratory infection, 623 cases of skin disease, and 298 cases of acute gastroenteritis.
Along with 16 individuals suffering from conjunctivitis, six patients are also being treated for hand, foot and mouth disease.
Meanwhile, a cluster originating from a 19-year-old hostel student from SMK Ranau has kept Sabah’s Covid-19 infections over the 200 cases a day mark.
The index patient realised she had the virus after using a self-test kit, said the state’s Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun in pandemic update today.
The cluster, identified as the Puri Ranau cluster, also involved six classmates and roommates.
The students have been classified under Categories 1 and 2.
The Puri Ranau cluster is the latest one in Sabah after the Kayul cluster, involving four persons who had attended a house religious event in Kuala Penyu on January 11, was discovered three days ago.
Sabah today recorded a total of 201 cases, 38 more cases than yesterday.
Major Sabah towns recorded the highest number of infections, with Kota Kinabalu logging a total of 42 cases, followed by Tuaran (37), Penampang (18), Sandakan and Tawau with 14 cases each. – The Vibes, January 18, 2022
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