[UPDATED] With 20,546 infections, Covid-19 cases continue downward trend

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia continues to record a dip in coronavirus cases with 20,546 infections today, taking the total caseload to 1,404,899.

Selangor logged the highest number of cases with 7,307, followed by Sabah (1,665), Kedah (1,596), Johor (1,508), Kuala Lumpur (1,442), Penang (1,111), Perak (1,069) and Kelantan (1,025).

States that logged fewer than 1,000 cases are Sarawak (963), Pahang (926), Negri Sembilan (698), Melaka (631), Terengganu (534), Putrajaya (47), Perlis (21) and Labuan (3).

The nation mourned 282 Covid-19 deaths today, bringing the toll to 12,510. Of the fresh fatalities, 101 are brought-in-dead cases.

Selangor claimed 108 deaths, followed by Kuala Lumpur (45), Johor (44), Penang (24), Kedah (15), Perak (13), Sabah (9), Melaka and Sarawak (6 each), Negri Sembilan (5), Pahang (4) and Kelantan (3).

However, 16,945 patients recovered. Of the 1,059 in intensive care, 526 require breathing aid.

Of the 20,546 infections today, only 56 are in Category 4 and need oxygen (91.1% yet to complete vaccination) and 198 in Category 5 and need ventilator support (93.4% yet to complete vaccination).

The Health Ministry reported that the nationwide infectivity rate stands at 1.05.

The state with the highest rate is Perlis with 1.47. All other states have a rate higher than 1.00, except for Labuan and Putrajaya.

Malaysia logged 29 new clusters, of which 17 involve worksites, 10 involve the community and two involve high-risk groups.

Sabah’s case breakdown

Despite registering 1,665 new Covid-19 cases today, almost 70% of them are in Categories 1 and 2 (mild to no symptoms), said state Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun in a statement today.

Of the total cases, 389 cases are Category 1 and 751 are Category 2.

Tawau is the district with the highest number of infections with 245, followed by Sandakan (244), Kota Kinabalu (207), Kinabatangan (152), Penampang (128) and Papar (107).

The state also registered three new clusters today – Tangkuyan cluster in Kinabatangan (128 cases); Paka Kawiyan cluster in Ranau (13); and, Segama Batu 1 cluster in Lahad Datu (11).

“Sabah’s new cases today show a slight decrease from the 1,752 cases yesterday, but this does not mean that the state is seeing a reducing trend as the cases have been fluctuating daily,” said Masidi.

“Sandakan’s sharp increase to 244 cases today from 113 yesterday is mainly due to by close contact screening. Kinabatangan also sees a surge in cases from just from 15 yesterday, due to by the Tangkuyan cluster.”

Close contact screening remains the highest contributor of the daily infections in the state, he added.

As of yesterday, 45.5% of the adult population in Sabah have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 21.7% have completed their vaccination. 

Masidi said the number of recipients is expected to increase next week as more people get their second jab. – The Vibes, August 15, 2021