KUALA LUMPUR – The country today recorded 11 new Covid-19 fatalities, taking the death toll to 700, said Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
It also registered another 3,585 infections, driving up the national tally to 190,434, of which 40,574 are active cases.
Of the new cases, only three were imported.
Dr Noor Hisham, in his daily update, said there are another 4,076 recoveries, making for a total of 149,160.
Of the active cases, 280 patients are in intensive care, with 111 requiring respiratory assistance.
Selangor recorded the highest number of fresh infections at 1,295, followed by Kuala Lumpur (610), Johor (516), Sabah (303) and Sarawak (205).
Negri Sembilan registered 129 cases, followed by Penang (104), Melaka (92), Kedah (88), Kelantan (76) and Terengganu (76).
Putrajaya and Pahang recorded 15 cases each, while Perlis logged two, and Labuan, one.
Dr Noor Hisham said 59 cases reported today are from lockups, immigration detention centres and prisons, involving the clusters at Jalan Harapan prison (24 cases), Tembok Renggam (12), Tembok Bukit Besi (seven), Tembok Sungai Udang (six), Tembok Kemus (four) and Seberang Prai Prison (three). The Tembok Taiping, Tembok Mempaga and Telok Mas clusters recorded one case each.
The deaths reported today involve four people in Kuala Lumpur, three in Sarawak, and one each in Perak, Selangor, Johor and Penang.
Dr Noor Hisham said the country has in total recorded 753 clusters, including seven new ones today.
The number of clusters that have ended stands at 397, including two – the Teguli and Desa Pinang clusters – that ended today.
He said 95 active clusters recorded new cases today, with the highest being the Pasai cluster (111 cases), followed by the Seri Bayu (61) and Jalan Platinum (33) clusters.
Three of the seven new clusters – Jalan Cochrane, Jalan Platinum and Intan Delima in Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Negri Sembilan, respectively – are workplace clusters.
The other four are the Jalan Mahsuri cluster in Johor and Kg Bukit Putera cluster in Terengganu, which are community clusters, the Keladi Saga cluster in Kedah (related to religious activities), and the Tembok Bukit Besi cluster in Terengganu (related to a detention centre).
Private sector contribution
Dr Noor Hisham said 129 out of 210 private hospitals in the country offer inpatient treatment, of which 96 have agreed to offer treatment for Covid-19, adding 1,252 beds, 65 intensive care unit beds and 54 ventilator machines to the public healthcare system arsenal.
“The government will optimise the capacity of existing (testing) labs, especially at government departments and public universities, for wide-scale Covid-19 testing and detection.
“Additionally, government buildings deemed fit as swab test centres will be identified at the state and district levels.”
He said the Health Ministry (MoH) will improve the mobilisation of its assets, while health resources, such as personal protective equipment and medication, will be distributed to hospitals according to their needs.
He added that this included the mobilisation of medical workers, such as specialised nurses from private hospitals, to be placed temporarily at public hospitals.
On funding of treatment for Covid-19 patients at private hospitals, Dr Noor Hisham said the mechanism for the matter is being studied by MoH, the Finance Ministry, Bank Negara Malaysia and insurance industry players.
“As mentioned by the chief secretary to the government, the private sector is being consolidated to treat patients who are able to fund themselves.” – The Vibes, January 26, 2021
