KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia today recorded its highest ever Covid-19 recoveries thus far at 5,718.
This number is considerably lower than the recorded number of infections today, which is 2,720.
In total, Malaysia has till today registered 269,165 infections.
In announcing this, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham reported eight deaths due to Covid-19 today.
Seven of the deceased were Malaysians, while one was a foreigner, he said at a press conference.
The top three states to record the most infections were Selangor (1,300 cases), Johor (451) and Kuala Lumpur (318).
The three states or territories with the lowest numbers are Putrajaya (6), Labuan (1) and Perlis (0).
As for clusters, 499 remain active at present, including the 19 new ones identified today.
Meanwhile, Sarawak identified five new clusters today, four of which were detected among the community, while one concerned high-risk individuals.
Johor and Selangor identified four clusters each, all involving workplaces.
Sabah recorded two, and Kuala Lumpur, Pahang Kedah and Perak each identified one cluster – all involving workplaces too.
Earlier today, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak queried if the drop in Covid-19 numbers is due to a reduction in testing.
He also pointed out that while recorded cases are seen to reduce daily clusters remain high.
During the press conference, a reporter queried Hisham on the reduction in testing and asked if it had to do with the Ministry of Health’s refusal to test close contacts without symptoms.
Hisham, however, clarified that it is not true.
"What we do is, in places with high infections like Selangor and Sabah, we will prioritise testing those with symptoms. Those without symptoms, we will tell them to isolate first," Hisham said.
He also explained that there are 23 private labs and 17 university labs performing tests, but given it is the holiday season, they may not have the human resources to perform more tests.
Additionally, certain labs may only prioritise recording data of virus-positive cases, while cases that are negative may not have been recorded in their systems. – The Vibes, February 16, 2021
