[UPDATED] 20,780 fresh Covid-19 cases, 211 fatalities

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 count today rose to 20,780, making for a total of 1,320,547 infections since the pandemic began.

Selangor leads with 6,921 cases, followed by Kuala Lumpur (2,065) and Johor (1,693).

Kedah logged 1,534 cases, Sabah (1,514), Penang (1,385), Kelantan (1,284), Negri Sembilan (1,015), Perak (828), Melaka (636), Sarawak (634), Terengganu (613) and Pahang (585).

Putrajaya saw 41 infections, Perlis (29) and Labuan (3).

The Health Ministry reported 211 coronavirus deaths, pushing up the overall toll to 11,373.

Of the 1,053 patients in intensive care, 546 require breathing aid.

Total recoveries stand at 1,075,816 with the 17,973 registered today.

Of the fresh cases, 400 are in Categories 3, 4 and 5, with the remainder in Categories 1 and 2. 

Of the 211 deaths, 79 were recorded in Selangor, followed by Kuala Lumpur (41), Kedah (21), Johor (16) and Sabah (13).

Negri Sembilan and Terengganu saw eight fatalities each, and Penang and Perak, seven each. Melaka logged six deaths, and Pahang, five.

The ministry said the national infectivity rate stood at 1.07 as of yesterday. 

Perlis registered the highest rate at 1.37, followed by Kelantan (1.21) and Sabah (1.16). All states recorded a rate of above 1.0 except for Labuan (0) and Putrajaya (0.98).

From March 2020 to June this year, there were 3,396 cases of pregnant women contracting Covid-19, said the ministry.

It is estimated that 1% of all pregnant women in Malaysia have been infected with the virus.

For this year up till Monday, there had been 70 virus deaths involving pregnant women. None was recorded in 2020.

Thirty-one new clusters have been detected, with 18 linked to worksites in Johor, Kelantan, Melaka, Pahang, Penang, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, involving a total of 898 infections.

Eleven community clusters in Johor, Kelantan, Sarawak, Selangor and Terengganu logged 311 cases.

Two high-risk group clusters with 65 cases were reported in Kedah and Johor.

Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah urged pregnant women to get vaccinated, and called on husbands to ensure this, reported Bernama.

In a statement, he said the average number of Covid-19 cases involving pregnant women from January to May stood at two a month, but there has been a sharp increase in deaths since June, at 17.

“The data shows that two of the victims had received their first vaccine dose, while the other 15 had not yet received the jab. Of the deaths, 47% victims had comorbidities.”

He said the number of cases increased from October last year, from an average of 200 per month to a surge in May (850) and June (899).

“The percentage of pregnant women infected with Covid-19 who received intensive care rose from 3% on July 10 to 5.3% on August 7.”

Dr Noor Hisham said since the vaccination drive for pregnant women began at end-June, 146,759 had registered via MySejahtera as of Sunday.

“Of the total, 83,251 (57%) have received at least one dose, while 20% are fully vaccinated.”

Based on the estimated number of pregnant women a year, he said, the percentage of jab registrations on MySejahtera from this group is still low at 40%.

He said vaccination should be completed before entering the final trimester of pregnancy. – The Vibes, August 11, 2021