KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 7,097 new cases of COVID-19 was recorded over the past 24 hours, a slight drop from yesterday's tally of 7,654.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in his tweet said the cumulative total of positive COVID-19 cases in Malaysia now stood at 799,790.

Selangor still has the highest number of daily cases at 3,119, followed by Kuala Lumpur (1,005); Negeri Sembilan (788); Melaka (358); Sarawak (289); Pahang (258); Kedah (198); Perak (187); Penang (140); Kelantan (123); Labuan (93); Terengganu (43); Putrajaya (26) and Perlis (two).

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said in a statement that of the 7,097 new cases, 26 were imported cases and the rest were local transmissions.

He also said there were 4,863 recoveries today, taking the total number of recoveries to 719,678 or 90 per cent.

"The number of active cases currently stands at 74,344 while 948 patients are being treated in the intensive care unit (ICU), with 441 of them requiring ventilator assistance," he said.

He added that 91 fatalities were recorded today involving 47 cases in Selangor; Negeri Sembilan (16); Kuala Lumpur (10); and four cases each in Johor and Melaka; Sarawak (three); Perak (two); as well as one each in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Labuan and Kedah.

Dr Noor Hisham also announced that 18 new clusters were detected today, with nine of them in the community, six in workplaces, two involving high-risk groups namely Jalan Parit Mahang cluster in Selangor and Jalan Limau Kampung Pasir cluster in Johor as well as one higher education cluster (Sejantung cluster in Selangor).

The community clusters were Lorong Tiga Kampung Siol Kandis and Sungai Bedil Besar in Sarawak; Pintasan Kota Belud and Siasai Dundau in Sabah; Jalan Bukit 17 and Jalan Pulasan 18 in Johor; Taman Dovenby in Perak and Selangor; Jalan Panchang in Selangor; and Jalan Nik Yusuf in Pasir Mas, Kelantan.

The workplace clusters were Tasik Utama 2 and Industri Lengkok Emas Nilai in Negeri Sembilan; Industri Jalan TMP Lapan and Jalan Tun Razak Peringgit in Melaka; Jalan Metro Perdana in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor; as well as Pasar Orkid Sentosa in Selangor.

As of yesterday, Dr Noor Hisham said Putrajaya recorded the highest Rt value at 1.25, surpassing the national Rt value of 1.08.

"Other states that recorded Rt value above 1.0 were Pahang (1.18); Kuala Lumpur (1.16); Selangor (1.12); Kedah (Rt 1.11); Melaka (1.08); Sabah (1.04); Penang (1.03); and Negeri Sembilan (1.01)," he said.

-- BERNAMA