KUALA LUMPUR: The number of new COVID-19 cases dropped to 5,501 cases today after it broke the 6,000 mark yesterday.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today's total brought the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 2,614,480.

"Out of the total, 5,476 cases were local infections while the remaining 25 were import cases," he said in a statement here today.

Dr Noor Hisham said 5,423 cases or 98.6 per cent were categories one and two, while the remaining 78 cases, or 1.4 per cent, were categories three, four and five.

There were 6,664 recoveries today, bringing the total number of recoveries to 2,516,693.

There are 455 cases requiring intensive care treatment, with 167 of them requiring breathing support, he said.

Also, Dr Noor Hisham said seven new clusters were detected, bringing the total of active clusters to 236, while the national Rt value remains at 0.99.

Other detailed information and the current situation regarding the infection and spread of COVID-19 in Malaysia can be found at the COVIDNOW website at https://covidnow.moh.gov.my. The data is updated every midnight.

-- BERNAMA