[UPDATED] Covid-19 cases dip to 12,541, 115 deaths logged, record-high 37 new clusters

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia saw a modest decrease in Covid-19 cases today to 12,541 from the 13,215 infections logged yesterday. 

The Health Ministry said this takes the cumulative tally to 893,323.

Selangor logged 5,512 cases, followed by Negri Sembilan (1,619) and Kuala Lumpur (1,542), which altogether account for 8,673 of the total infections recorded over the past 24 hours.

This was followed by Johor with 609 cases, Melaka (575), Kedah (458), Sarawak (423), Pahang (382), Penang (376), Sabah (326), Perak (299) and Kelantan (225).

The states that saw fewer than 200 cases are Terengganu (102), Putrajaya (62), Labuan (24) and Perlis (7).

Of the fresh cases, 6,504 (51.9%) are in Category 1 and 5,848 (46.6%) in Category 2.

There are 86 cases (0.7%) in Category 3, where patients suffer pneumonia, and 49 (0.4%) in Category 4 (pneumonia requiring oxygen therapy).

Fifty-four cases (0.4%) are in Category 5, where patients are in critical condition and need breathing assistance.

Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah shared on Twitter a chart showing the number of coronavirus tests conducted over the last two weeks.

“As of July 15, there were a total of 141,523 tests carried out, of which 65,822 were PCR and 75,701, RTK-Ag.

“Selangor conducted 52,889 tests, and Kuala Lumpur, 18,369.

“There is capacity to increase the number of tests done, including by private laboratories. This capacity can be optimised for targeted screening.”

Selangor menjalankan 52,889 ujian manakala WP KL sebanyak 18,369 ujian. Masih terdapat kapasiti untuk lebih byk ujian & ianya masih boleh ditambahkan lagi misalnya di makmal2 swasta. Kapasiti ini digunapakai sebaiknya bagi ujian COVID-19 bagi saringan bertumpu (targeted testing).

— Noor Hisham Abdullah (@DGHisham) July 16, 2021

The ministry reported another 115 Covid-19 deaths, making for a total of 6,728 fatalities to date.

Of the 896 patients in intensive care, 459 require breathing aid.

There are 6,742 new recoveries, taking the overall figure to 772,542. 

Dr Noor Hisham said 37 new clusters were detected, the highest daily figure since the start of the pandemic.

Nineteen clusters stemmed from workplaces, the community (8), detention centres (4), and high-risk groups and education institutions (3 each).

Dr Noor Hisham said the national infectivity rate (R0) currently stands at 1.2.

Putrajaya, Terengganu and Kedah have the highest R0 by state, at 1.32, 1.27 and 1.23, respectively.

Selangor, which has consistently recorded the highest Covid-19 tally, has an R0 of 1.2.

Only Sarawak, Labuan and Perlis have an R0 of below 1, at 0.9, 0.8 and 0.0, respectively. – The Vibes, July 16, 2021