COVID-19: Record 16 deaths reported today, 2,643 new cases - Health DG

KUALA LUMPUR: The number of COVID-19 deaths reported today doubled to 16 from eight yesterday, setting a record high in single-day fatalities, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said nine deaths were reported in Selangor, four in Sabah and three in Johor, with the victims aged between 44 and 79.

This brings the death toll in the country to 537, or 0.41 per cent of the total number of positive cases.

“For your information, the increase in fatalities today was due to cases which required a certain period for further investigations before the deaths were confirmed to be caused by COVID-19,” he said in a statement today.

Dr Noor Hisham also said 2,643 positive cases were reported today, bringing the cumulative figure to 131,108 cases. New cases yesterday had hit a record high of 3,027.

Only two of the new cases today were imported and the rest were local transmissions, while active cases now stand at 25,140, he added.

Selangor had the highest daily cases at 1,086, with 904 cases from clusters and close contact screening in the field.

This was followed by Sabah with 401 cases and Johor with 298 cases.

He said 79 cases were related to clusters at lock-ups, immigration detention depots and prisons, involving Jalan Harapan Prison cluster with 73 cases, Pagar Siput cluster (three ), Tembok Choh cluster (two), and Tembok Gajah cluster (one).

Among the clusters recording the highest increase in cases were Sungai Putus cluster with 374, Jalan Klinik new cluster (132) and Jalan Harapan Prison cluster.

Dr Noor Hisham said six new clusters were detected today - Kauran and Setapak Indah clusters, and four workplace clusters of Jalan Klinik, Tapak Bina Hevea, Bukit Belimbing and Kapital.

The Jalan Klinik cluster involving Klang, Selangor recorded 132 cases; Tapak Bina Hevea cluster involving Petaling, Selangor (30); Bukit Belimbing cluster which was reported in Petaling and Klang, Selangor (33) and Kapital cluster involving Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur (72).

The Kauran cluster involving Keningau, Sabah reported 55 cases while Setapak Indah cluster in Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur recorded 16 cases.

So far, 576 clusters have been reported, with 319 clusters having ended including three - Jalan Bomba, Makmur and Bina Galeri - which ended today.

This leaves active clusters under monitoring at 257 and of this number, 57 clusters reported new cases today.

A total of 2,708 recoveries were reported today, raising the cumulative figure to 105,431, or 80.4 per cent of the total number of positive cases.

He said 170 patients were under intensive care, with 82 requiring ventilator support.

-- BERNAMA