COVID: 6,988 new cases on Thursday, Selangor still records highest number

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has, for the third straight day, recorded over 6,000 new COVID-19 daily cases, with 6,988 reported over the last 24 hours.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah tweeted today that the latest figure showed an increase of 712 cases compared to yesterday's 6,276.

The latest development takes the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 758,967.

He said Selangor still recorded the highest number of daily cases, with 2,885, followed by Kuala Lumpur (988), Negeri Sembilan (692), Sarawak (544), Melaka (311), Johor (270), Kedah (250) and Sabah (232).

Pahang, meanwhile, recorded 195 cases, followed by Penang (174), Perak (149), Labuan (129), Kelantan (108), Terengganu (50), Putrajaya (10) and Perlis (one).

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said in a statement that of the 6,988 new cases, five were imported cases and the rest were local transmissions.

He also said there were 5,580 recoveries today, taking the total number of recoveries to 688,260.

"The number of active cases currently stands at 65,453 while 917 patients are being treated in the intensive care unit (ICU), with 445 of them requiring ventilator assistance," he said.

He added that 84 fatalities were recorded today involving 77 Malaysians and seven foreigners aged between 30 and 90, with a majority of them having chronic diseases, taking the death toll to 5,254.

He also announced that 21 new clusters were detected today, with 11 of them in workplaces, nine in the community and one involving a high-risk group.

The workplace clusters were recorded in Dah Batik Industri Sungai Petani, Dah Mawar Biru and Dah Lima Industri Sungai Petani di Kedah; Industri MIEL Bayan Lepas, Lorong Perusahaan Maju Lapan and Jalan Perusahaan Maju Sembilan in Penang; Jalan Perusahaan Maju Sembilan and Jalan Industri Enam Jelapang in Perak.

The workplace clusters were also detected in Industri Balakong Empat and Industri Perusahaan Selesa Jaya in Selangor; Jalan Sin Chew Kee in Kuala Lumpur; and Kampung Telok Kemang in Johor.

The community clusters were in Kampung Tengah Tanah Merah, Kampung Redang Gunong, Kampung Bagus, Kampung Hutan Banggol and Taman SP Mahang in Kelantan; Seri Semarak (Kuala Lumpur); Nahaba 2 (Sabah); Dah Tanjung Setol (Kedah); and Jalan Lagenda (Johor).

The high-risk group cluster was recorded in Jalan Residensi in Penang.

-- BERNAMA