[UPDATED] Day of record highs with 22,242 Covid-19 cases, 19,680 recoveries

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia today logged an all-time high of 22,242 Covid-19 cases, making for 1,466,512 infections since the pandemic began.

Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said of the new cases, only four are imported.

A total of 225 fatalities were also recorded in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 13,302.

While there were a record-high 19,680 recoveries, 1,060 patients remain in intensive care, with 540 requiring breathing support.

Meanwhile, Selangor is in the lead with 6,858 cases, followed by Sabah (2,413), Penang (1,867), Kedah (1,852), Kuala Lumpur (1,587), Johor (1,477), Sarawak (1,403), Kelantan (1,351) and Perak (1,036).

Pahang saw 675 cases, Melaka (579), Negri Sembilan (577), Terengganu (487), Perlis (50), Putrajaya (25) and Labuan (5).

Of the total new cases today, the Health Ministry said 1.9% were category 3-5 and 98.1% were category 1 and 2. A total of 83.76% cases involved individuals who are not fully vaccinated.

There were 207 category 5 cases, with 90.8% not fully vaccinated, while of the 79 category 4 cases, 87.3% were not fully dosed.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said the country has recorded 4,306 clusters since the pandemic began, including 49 new clusters today.

Clusters that have ended are at 2,920, while 1,386 clusters remain active.

On fatalities, Dr Noor Hisham said 74 deaths were recorded in Selangor, followed by Johor (37), Kuala Lumpur (24), Sabah (18), Penang (15), Kedah (14), Perak (9), Negri Sembilan (8) and Melaka (7), while Kelantan and Pahang recorded six deaths each.

Terengganu saw five fatalities while Sarawak recorded two.

On the new clusters, Dr Noor Hisham said 30 came from workplaces, 13 from the community, five from a high-risk group, and one in a detention centre.

The new cluster that saw the highest cases is the Zon Dagang Satu 2 in Seberang Prai, Penang, with 221 cases, while the cluster with the fewest infections is the Cabang Tiga Midin high-risk group cluster in Pontian, Johor, with 26 cases. 

Uptick in Sabah cases

Sabah’s 2,413 cases today is an increase of 310 from yesterday’s 2,103.

The higher caseload is due to a backlog of swab test results involving 258 samples.

Over 90% of the state’s fresh infections are in Categories 1 and 2.

According to the state Disaster Management Committee, 1,363 cases (56.5%) are in Category 2, while 1,026 (42.5%) are in Category 1.

There are 11 cases in Category 3, Category 4 (3) and Category 5 (5).

Kota Kinabalu saw the highest number of infections at 594, followed by Tawau (348), Penampang (177), Tuaran (174) , Sandakan (150), Keningau (153), Lahad Datu (125), Sipitang (82), Tenom (82), Kalabakan (47), Telupid (18) and Ranau (16). – The Vibes, August 18, 2021