A total of 184 new positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the country as at noon today, bringing the cumulative total to 4,530, said Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said three more deaths had also been reported, raising the death toll to 73, or 1.61 per cent of the total number of COVID-19 cases.

He said the 71st fatality (Case 3,091) was a 66-year-old Malaysian man with a history of diabetes, high blood pressure and gout.

“He was a close contact of a COVID-19 patient (Case 452) from the Seri Petaling cluster. He was admitted to Hospital Tuanku Ja’afar, Negeri Sembilan on April 1, 2020 and was confirmed to have died at 12.05 pm today,” he said.

The 72nd death (Case 537) involved a 71-year-old Malaysisn man with a history of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, he said at a daily COVID-19 briefing at the Health Ministry here today.

“He had been treated at the Sungai Buloh Hospital, Selangor since March 15, 2020 and was confirmed to have died at 11.15 am today.

“The 73rd death (Case 2,399) involved a 63-year-old Malaysian man who had a history of high blood pressure. He was admitted to Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Ipoh, Perak on March 25, 2020 and died at noon today,” he added.

Dr Noor Hisham said 165 cases had recovered and were discharged today, raising the cumulative total of recoveries to 1,995, or 44.04 per cent of the total number of cases.

He said 72 cases were still being treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), with 38 of them requiring ventilators.

Dr Noor Hisham said that after deducting the discharged cases and deaths from the cumulative total, the number of active COVID-19 cases with infectivity was 2,462.

“They (active cases) have been isolated and treated. According to the ministry’s projected trajectory, on April 14 or when the phase two Movement Control Order (MCO) ends, the projected positive cases with infectivity are expected to number about 2,033.

“These are signs of the success of phase one and phase two of MCO in reducing COVID-19 infectivity in the community,” he added.

As such, the public should continue helping the government to break the COVID-19 chain of infection by staying at home, practising social distancing of at least one metre and frequently washing their hands, he said.

-- BERNAMA