KUALA LUMPUR:A total of 1,371 new COVID-19 positive cases and four fatalities were recorded over the past 24 hours, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said the latest development took the total number of infections in the country to 84,846, with 13,830 of them being active cases.

He said that of the new cases, only one was an imported case who was infected abroad, with the rest being local transmissions.

“Selangor continued to record the highest number of daily cases, with 532 (38.8 per cent), of which 420 cases (78.9 per cent) involved clusters and active on-field screening of close contacts of COVID-19 positive cases

“This is followed by Sabah with 283 cases (20.6 per cent) and Negeri Sembilan with 260 cases (19.0 per cent),” he told a media conference on COVID-19 development today.

He said that of the 532 cases in Selangor, 311 of them were from clusters (eight from the new Solar Ria Cluster); 109 from close contact screenings; one import case from overseas; and 111 from other COVID-19 screenings.

In Sabah, 65 cases were from existing clusters, 155 from close contact screenings and 63 from other COVID-19 screenings.

“Of the 260 cases in Negeri Sembilan, 252 are from existing clusters; one from close contact screening; and seven from other COVID-19 screenings.

“Kuala Lumpur recorded 124 cases, of which 76 are from existing clusters, including five from the new Senu Setia Cluster; 15 from close contact screenings; and 33 from other COVID-19 screenings,” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said a total of 62 cases were reported in Perak, of which 58 were from existing clusters and four from other COVID-19 screenings.

Johor, meanwhile, recorded 45 cases, of which 17 were from existing clusters, 18 from close contact screenings; and 10 from other screenings.

Of the 31 cases reported in Penang, three were from existing clusters; 19 from close contact screenings; and nine from other screenings.

"Labuan recorded 16 cases, with eight each from existing clusters and other screenings, while the nine cases reported in Terengganu are all from existing clusters. 

"Kedah had five cases (four from close contact screenings and one from other screenings) while Kelantan had two cases from other screenings,” he said.

One case each was recorded in Melaka (from close contact screenings) and Putrajaya (from other screenings).

He added that a total of 72 (5.3 per cent) of the cases recorded were prison-linked clusters, involving the Tembok Cluster (48 cases), Jalan Harapan Prison Cluster (22), Matambai Cluster (one) and Kepayan Prison Cluster (one).

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said there were 1,204 recoveries today, taking the tally to 70,597 (83.2 per cent of the total number of cases) while 114 cases are still being treated in the intensive care unit, with 62 of them intubated.

He said the four fatalities today involved three local women and a foreign man, taking the death toll to 419 or 0.49 per cent of the total number of cases.

"Those who died were a 40-year-old woman in Labuan with a history of diabetes; a 50-year-old woman in Perak with a history of diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia; a 46-year-old woman in Sabah with a history of hypertension, dyslipidemia and obesity; as well as a foreign man in Sabah,” he said.

-- BERNAMA