[UPDATED] Covid-19 cases rise to 19,991, another 201 deaths logged

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia saw a rise in Covid-19 cases today to 19,991 from yesterday’s 17,236.

The Health Ministry said this takes the cumulative tally to 1,299,767 cases logged since the start of the pandemic.

Selangor leads by caseload with 7,338 infections today, followed by Kuala Lumpur (2,374), Kedah (1,830), Sabah (1,383), Johor (1,344), Kelantan (1,030), Perak (953), Sarawak (836), Penang (743), Melaka (578), Negri Sembilan (564), Pahang (539), Terengganu (378), Putrajaya (76), Perlis (24) and Labuan (1).

The ministry reported another 201 deaths, making for a total of 11,162 lives lost to the coronavirus.

Of the 1,096 patients in intensive care, 570 require respiratory support.

Overall recoveries stand at 1,057,843 with 16,258 registered today.

Of today’s new infections, 382 are in Categories 3, 4, and 5, with the remaining 19,606 in Categories 1 and 2. 

The 201 deaths included 87 in Selangor, followed by Kuala Lumpur (37), Johor (20), Perak (14), Sabah (12), Penang (10), Melaka (8) and Negri Sembilan (5). 

Kedah and Sarawak saw three fatalities each, and Terengganu, two. 

The national infectivity rate, meanwhile, stood at 1.06 as of yesterday. 

Perlis saw the highest rate at 1.33, followed by Kelantan (1.24) and Terengganu (1.18).

All the states have a rate of above 1.0 except for Labuan. 

The ministry said the Institute for Medical Research has identified 47 new variants of the SARS-Cov-2 virus, all of which are variants of concern (VOCs).

Cases categorised as VOCs now total 647, while cases concerning variants of interest (VOIs) number 20.

Of the total VOC cases, 209 involve the Beta variant, Delta (424) and Alpha (14).

As for the VOIs, 13 involve the Theta variant, Kappa (4) and Eta (3). 

The ministry said 29 new clusters were detected, with 17 linked to worksites in Johor, Kelantan, Melaka, Pahang, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, which logged an overall 703 infections.

Eight community clusters in Sarawak, Kelantan, Sabah and Selangor recorded 212 cases.

Three clusters linked to high-risk groups in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur recorded 90 cases, while a religious cluster in Pahang saw 24. – The Vibes, August 10, 2021