KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia today breached 230,000 total Covid-19 infections with 4,571 fresh cases.
Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the country also saw 17 new deaths, bringing the toll to 826.
He added that three of today’s new cases were imported.
The country also recorded 4,092 recoveries, bringing the total discharged to 181,886.
Of the 48,771 active cases, he said 308 are in intensive care while 135 require intubation.
Selangor recorded the highest number of cases today with 2,056, followed by Johor (664), Kuala Lumpur (481), Sarawak (270), Melaka (238) and Perak (163).
Sabah saw 175 cases, followed by Penang (157) and Negri Sembilan (100).
States recording fewer than 100 cases are Pahang (98), Terengganu (69), Kedah (51), Kelantan (48), Putrajaya (20) and Labuan (1).
Perlis is the only state without new cases today.
New deaths
Dr Noor Hisham said four deaths today occurred in Selangor, three each in Sabah and Sarawak, and two cases in Johor and Pahang, as well as one each in Kelantan, Melaka and Negri Sembilan.
He added that 15 deaths involved locals and the remaining two were foreigners.
While the majority of the deaths involved adults aged 34 and above, a 4-month-old baby boy in Tawau Hospital, Sabah, was among those who died from Covid-19 today.
The baby had a history of heart disease. He is, to date, the nation's youngest victim to the deadly virus.
Satellite prison
In a separate post on social media, Dr Noor Hisham said today he visited a National Service Training Programme (PLKN) camp in Melaka that has been turned into a satellite prison for those awaiting sentencing.
Banduan akan ditempatkan di Penjara Satelit bagi tempoh minimum 10 hari bagi membolehkan saringan COVID-19 dilaksanakan. Sekiranya terdapat tahanan yg dikesan positif, mereka akan dihantar ke PKRC Penjara Sungai Udang, Melaka bagi tujuan rawatan dan isolasi selama 10 hari. 2/2 pic.twitter.com/6ZOWIID9Lp
— Noor Hisham Abdullah (@DGHisham) February 4, 2021
“The taking over of PLKN camps and Wawasan camps as detention centres and temporary quarantine centres for illegal immigrants and as a temporary prison is among the immediate actions taken by the government to reduce the congestion in immigration detention centres and prisons.
“This directly helps prevent and contain the spread of Covid-19 among detainees.”
Covid-19 clusters
Dr Noor Hisham said 237 of today’s new cases were linked to detention centres, prisons and lock-ups involving the Tembok Taiping cluster (79 cases), Jalan Sg Jelok prison (65), Tembok Renggam cluster (44), Tembok Mempaga cluster (38), Tembok Sg Udang cluster (3), Jalan Harapan prison cluster (3), Tembok Bukit Besi cluster (2), Tembok Pengkalan Chepa cluster (1), Matambai cluster (1) and the Kepayan prison cluster (1).
The country also recorded a total of 861 clusters, including 10 new ones today.
He said 440 clusters have ended, including the Desa Setapak cluster that ended today.
Dr Noor Hisham added 421 clusters are still active, while 90 clusters recording new cases.
The clusters recording the highest number of cases are the Persiaran Perkilangan cluster (362), Industri Serkam cluster (201) and Jalan Perindustrian cluster (150).
Six of the new clusters today are related to workplaces while another four are community clusters.
Selangor recorded the Jalan Industri Rawang cluster in Gombak with 23 cases, followed by the Jalan Gombak cluster in Gombak, Sepang, Petaling and Hulu Langat with 41 cases, as well as the Jalan Jasmine cluster in Hulu Selangor with 61 cases.
In Johor, the ministry recorded the Parit Penyengat cluster in Muar with 34 cases, followed by the Kg Lukut cluster in Kota Tinggi with 15 cases and the Jalan Jelutong cluster in Kota Tinggi with seven cases.
Sarawak saw the Jalan Pengiran cluster in Matu with 20 cases while Negri Sembilan saw the Permata Satu cluster in Seremban with 31 cases.
Pahang logged the Rantau Tg cluster in Maran with 14 cases and Kg Pulau Jawa cluster in Pekan with 16 cases. – The Vibes, February 4, 2021
