KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia has logged 26,701 Covid-19 cases and another 39 deaths as of midnight, according to the CovidNow portal.
This brings the cumulative total to 3,138,215, with the death toll standing at 32,239. Of the new death caseload, 17 are under the brought-in-dead category.
Among the new infections, 26,569 are local cases, while 132 are imported. Meanwhile, 11,744 out of the daily caseload are new recovery cases.
Currently, there are another 14,918 active cases, bringing the cumulative total to 217,782.
In a press conference yesterday, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the daily evening Covid-19 updates will be scrapped and replaced with announcements the next day at 10am.
He said this is done to make sure data is analysed and evaluated properly, especially by the public, to allay any misconceptions over the severity of Covid-19.
In today’s statement, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that Johor and Kelantan recorded 65% and 50% of ICU bed usage.
As for low-risk quarantine and treatment centre (PKRC) usage, Perak is at 74%, followed by Negri Sembilan (73%), Selangor (71%), Terengganu (60%), Kelantan (59%) Sabah (58%), Kedah (51%), and Penang (50%).
Malaysia also logged 19 news clusters, bringing the active total to 481. Ventilator use has also increased to 141 patients and its usage stands at 36%.
He highlighted the difference in daily Covid-19 hospital admission rates compared to infection categories due to the patients’ dynamic clinical situations as they could deteriorate or recover as time goes on.
As of midnight, 1,469 patients are admitted, of which 522 (35.5%) are in categories 3 to 5 while 947 (64.5%) are in categories 1 and 2.
Of the total daily caseload, 118 infections (0.44%) are in categories 3 to 5 while 26,583 (99.56%) are categories 1 and 2.
He gave the breakdown of the 118 more severe cases where 22 of them were either unvaccinated or had incomplete vaccinations, 71 have received two doses while 25 have gotten booster jabs.
In addition, 53 cases are those aged 60 and above while 49 have comorbidities. Four cases were of pregnant mothers while 10 are recorded dead, including two brought-in-dead.
He revealed that between March 2020 and January 2022, a total of 18,277 cases involved pregnant women and this makes up 0.64% of the total cases recorded in the same period.
Based on the data provided, there was a significant increase in cases among pregnant women between July and September 2021, to almost 4,000 cases at its height.
Meanwhile, 191 infected pregnant women have died since the start of the pandemic where all cases were recorded in 2021. There have been no such deaths between December 2021 and February 15.
Last year, the number of pregnant women who died of Covid-19 reached a peak in July (31 cases), August (77) and September (44). Data showed that 79% of deaths involving pregnant women were not vaccinated while 83% had comorbidities – among those risk factors were obesity.
The ministry said data from its Ibunisasi programme found that by the end of October 2021, 94% of pregnant women who are registered on MySejahtera have gotten at least a dose of the vaccine while 91% have received two jabs. – The Vibes, February 18, 2022
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