[UPDATED] M’sia’s daily Covid-19 toll surpasses 11,000 mark: Noor Hisham

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s Covid-19 caseload inches close to the three million mark as the country logs another 11,034 infections.

According to Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, today’s new cases bring Malaysia’s cumulative total to 2,925,254.

He tweeted that of today’s caseload, 73.92% (8,157 cases) are in Category 1 and 25.55% (2,819) in Category 2, while 43 cases are in Category 3, 11 in Category 4 and four infections in Category 5.

In his daily statement, Dr Noor Hisham said the country saw 6,036 recoveries, bringing the total discharged to 2,818,650.

“Of today’s new cases, 77 are imported. Some 135 active cases are placed under intensive care, with 81 requiring breathing assistance.”

Meanwhile, the country logged nine fatalities, including two that were brought-in-dead cases, according to the ministry’s CovidNow website.

Earlier, he tweeted that of today’s caseload, 73.92% (8,157 cases) are in Category 1 and 25.55% (2,819) in Category 2, while 43 cases are in Category 3, 11 in Category 4 and four infections in Category 5.

He said the country has seen a total of 6,509 clusters, including 10 new ones today.

Clusters that have ended stood at 6,143, while 366 remained active. 

Case surge in Sabah

The Covid-19 cases in Sabah continue to surge with 1,600 new cases today, with 223 cases involving children aged 11 and below.

Sabah Covid-19 official spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said in his statement that of the 233 cases involving children, 10 cases are infants below one year old, 74 are children aged 1 to 5 while 139 cases are children aged 6 to 11.

The Kota Kinabalu district has the highest number of fresh infections at 371 cases, followed by Sandakan (322), Tuaran (150), Penampang (138), and Tawau (99).

He said as of today, 1,410 Covid-19 patients are receiving treatment, with 667 people in hospitals, while 736 people are in low-risk quarantine and treatment centres, and temporary detention centres. There are 24 people who are in need of critical care.

The hospital bed capacity usage is at 36.73% today.

Almost half of the new cases today (46.75%) were detected from close contacts while the rest (46.69%) were symptomatic patients.

Sabah also recorded two new Covid-19 clusters today – one is the Jalan Pintas Sembulan education cluster that started from hostel students of SM Maktab Sabah here. A total of 18 cases have been detected.

The second one, Giram cluster in Kunak, is a workplace cluster involving the Giram Estate. A total of 20 cases were recorded, including three new ones today.

Covid-19 cases in Sabah saw a surge since last Friday when 909 infections were recorded, almost double the 476 cases reported the day before.

This has caused the panic buying of Covid-19 self-test kits as Sabah Community Development and People’s Welfare Minister Datuk Shahelmy Yahya today acknowledged the product shortage here today. – The Vibes, February 7, 2022

Additional reporting by Rebecca Chong