[UPDATED] Whopping 15,573 new Covid-19 cases, over 9,000 in Klang Valley

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia recorded a staggering 15,573 new coronavirus cases today, bringing the total caseload to 980,491.

Of the new cases, more than 9,000 are in the Klang Valley alone.

Selangor again registered the highest number of infections with 7,672, followed by Kuala Lumpur (2,063), Kedah (937), Johor (722), Negri Sembilan (682), Penang (530) and Sabah (516).

States with fewer than 500 infections are Sarawak (461), Pahang (457), Melaka (452), Perak (415), Kelantan (372), Terengganu (229), Putrajaya (41), Labuan (21) and Perlis (3).

Of the over 15,000 cases today, only 74 are in Category 4 and require oxygen, and 29 in Category 5 and need ventilator support.

The nation mourned another 144 patients today, with the total fatalities now at 7,718.

It also recorded 10,094 recoveries, while 939 patients are still in intensive care units, of which 456 need intubation.

The Health Ministry reported 119 Covid-19 cases involving variants of concern (VOCs) from July 12 to 22. Of the total, 106 are from the Delta variant, 10 from Beta and three from Alpha.

In total, 429 cases in the country involve VOCs and variants of interest, of which 409 include VOCs – Delta (189), Beta (206) and Alpha (14).

As for the infectivity rate, the ministry said the figure stands at an average of 1.07 nationwide.

Terengganu recorded the highest rate with 1.44, followed by Kedah (1.22), Putrajaya (1.22), Johor (1.20), Sabah (1.19), Penang (1.18), Kelantan (1.16), Pahang (1.15), Selangor (1.14), Melaka (1.11), Kuala Lumpur (1.09), Negri Sembilan (1.06), Sarawak (1.04) and Perak (1.02).

Labuan recorded a rate of 0.74, while Perlis’ is zero.

As for clusters, 958 remain active, including 30 new ones today.

Of the new clusters, 16 are from the community and involve Perak, Kelantan, Terengganu, Selangor, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak. They recorded 420 cases in total.

Eight are from worksites in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Perak, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak. They recorded 209 cases in total.

Four new clusters involving high-risk groups are found in Johor, Sabah and Selangor, with a total of 69 cases.

One religious cluster was identified in Selangor with seven infections, and one educational cluster in Kuala Lumpur with 17 infections.

In Sarawak, 461 fresh infections were reported today.

The state Disaster Management Committee in a statement said three new Covid-19 deaths were recorded today, involving a 59-year-old man, 61-year-old woman and 91-year-old woman in Bintulu.

The death toll in the state now stands at 453.

Kuching recorded 184 cases today, followed by Simunjan (30), Miri (26), Bintulu (29) and Sibu (28), while other districts had fewer than 25 cases each.

The state also reported a new cluster – the Pesisir Pantai cluster, which saw 25 oil palm estate workers infected. – The Vibes, July 23, 2021