[UPDATED] Record 23,564 Covid-19 cases today, 233 deaths logged

KUALA LUMPUR – The country today logged 23,564 coronavirus cases – a new record – taking overall infections to 1,513,024 since the pandemic began.

Selangor saw 6,974 cases, Sabah (2,738), Sarawak (2,548), Kedah (1,932), Kuala Lumpur (1,652), Penang (1,523), Johor (1,323), Kelantan (1,281) and Perak (1,248).

Melaka recorded 610 infections, Negri Sembilan (608), Terengganu (521), Pahang (517), Perlis (64), Putrajaya (24) and Labuan (1).

The Health Ministry reported 233 Covid-19 deaths, pushing up the toll to 13,713.

Of the new fatalities, 60 were brought in dead. 44 were Malaysians, and the other non-citizens.

Of the 1,062 patients in intensive care, 518 are on ventilators.

Another 21,448 recoveries take the total to 1,241,894.

As for the nation’s infectivity rate (Rt), it currently stands at 1.04.

Perlis records the highest Rt value at 1.31, followed by Sabah (1.22), Sarawak (1.21), Penang (1.19), Kelantan (1.14), Kedah (1.12), Perak (1.11), Johor (1.07), Melaka (1.07), Pahang (1.07), Terengganu (1.07), and Selangor (1).

States recording a Rt value below one include Kuala Lumpur (0.95), Negri Sembilan (0.94), Putrajaya (0.89), while Labuan registered a value of zero.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry reports 1,422 active clusters, including 38 new ones identified today.

Some 22 of the new clusters concern worksites in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Sabah, Penang, Perak, Kelantan, and Johor, registering a cumulative number of 826 infections.

Fourteen community clusters were identified in Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Sarawak and Selangor. These community clusters recorded a total of 518 infections.

Two education clusters were identified in Kelantan, registering 39 Covid-19 cases.

Another daily high for Sabah

Sabah recorded another new high in its daily Covid-19 cases, with 2,738.  

Kota Kinabalu recorded the most cases with 454 cases, followed by Penampang (328), Sandakan (236), Tuaran (235), Tawau (225), Papar (138), and Putatan (104).  

Sabah’s official Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun in a statement today said the state’s daily cases do not reflect the actual number of Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, asthe tally also includes backlog cases.

He said out of today’s 2,738 cases, more than half (54%) or 1,482 cases, are backlog cases from between the past two and five days but were registered today. 

“A total of 247 cases (9%) are backlog cases from over five days ago; 223 cases (8%) are from four to five days ago, and 1,012 cases (37%) are from two to three days ago.  

“The delay in registration (of positive cases) was due to a high volume of data collection and thorough checking. These data also come from different districts of Sabah (thus requiring more time).”

Close contacts continue to be the main contributor to Sabah’s daily cases at 59% (1,616), followed by asymptomatic screening – 654 people (23.9%) and cluster screening – 172 people (6.3%).  

Out of the total new cases, only 18 people are in Category 3 (10 people with pneumonia), Category 4 (four people with pneumonia requiring oxygen support), and Category 5 (four people critical in ICU).

Patients in Category 2 (mild symptoms) are the largest group (58.5%) with 1,601 people, while 1,073 patients (39.2%) are in Category 1 (no symptom).  

Masidi said as of yesterday, half of Sabah’s adult population have received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccination (50.3%), and 26.9% have completed vaccination. – The Vibes, August 20, 2021