[UPDATED] 12,528 Covid-19 infections today, up from 12,541

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia today recorded 12,528 Covid-19 infections, a marginal decrease from yesterday’s 12,541.

Selangor has the lion’s share with 4,985 fresh cases, followed by Kuala Lumpur (1,740) and Negri Sembilan (1,280).

Kedah saw 701 cases, Sabah (647), Johor (625), Melaka (569), Perak (428), Penang (396), Sarawak (388), Pahang (317), Kelantan (211) and Terengganu (177).

Putrajaya logged 41 cases, Labuan (22) and Perlis (1).

In all, the country has registered 905,851 coronavirus infections since the pandemic began.

There were 6,629 recoveries today.

Today also saw 138 fresh fatalities, which brings the nation’s death toll from the pandemic to 6,866.

As for Covid-19 patients in intensive care, there are currently 908 of them, with 425 requiring ventilator support.

Shortly before Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah released the latest figures, Sabah Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun tweeted that 287 cases, or 44.4%, in the state are from existing clusters, and 220 cases, or 34%, from close contacts. 

Kota Kinabalu recorded 312 infections, of which 204 are from the Kapayan Prison cluster, while Tawau saw 78 (58 from close contacts) and Keningau, 39 (38 from clusters).

Kudat logged 35 cases, Sandakan (33), Sipitang (25) and Beaufort (24).

Dr Noor Hisham said that tests were showing a rising trend in the past two weeks, with 132,935 carried out yesterday. 

65,171 of these were RT-PCR and 67,764 were RTK-Ag.

As expected, Selangor carried out the highest number with 46,681 tests in total, followed by Kuala Lumpur (16,500) and Johor (10,611).

He also said that there is still capacity for screenings, especially for for targeted testing.

Separately, the health director-general said 54.6% – 6,840 – of today’s infections were Category 1 or asymptomatic.

Category 2 or cases showing light symptoms were 5,468 cases, Category 3 where patients suffer pneumonia was at 112, Category 4 had 44 cases and Category 5, where patients are in critical condition and need breathing assistance, saw 64 cases today.

Meanwhile, Sarawak’s capital Kuching continues to have a high caseload, logging 194 infections of the 388 in total statewide.

The state Disaster Management Committee said Serian had 44 cases, Sibu (28), Samarahan (21), Bau (17), Sarikei (11), Miri (10) and the rest of the districts logged fewer than 10 cases each.

Sarawak also has a new cluster – dubbed Bedup – that saw 24 villagers in the Serian district after a social gathering.

The state’s death toll remains at 443., with no new deaths in the last two days. – The Vibes, July 17, 2021

MORE TO FOLLOW