COVID: New cases up again, 5,244 reported Wednesday - Health DG

New COVID-19 cases in the country rose to 5,244 cases on Wednesday, after two consecutive days recording below 5,000.

In a Twitter post, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this was an increase of 501 cases compared to 4,743 cases yesterday.

The latest development brings cumulative COVID-19 cases in the country so far to 711,006.

Dr Noor Hisham said Selangor still recorded the highest number of daily cases at 2,001 followed by Negeri Sembilan (677); Sarawak (577); Kuala Lumpur (531); and Johor (282).

Pahang recorded 245 cases; Kedah (189); Melaka (180); Sabah (129); Penang (159); Kelantan (81); Labuan (77); Perak (75); Terengganu (27); Putrajaya (13); and Perlis just one case

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham in his statement said out of the total number of new cases, seven were imported cases while 5,237 cases involved local transmissions.

"Imported cases involved four citizens and three non-citizens while local cases involved 4,291 citizens and 946 non-citizens," he said.

He said a total of 6,372 recoveries were recorded bringing the cumulative total to 645,553 cases, while active cases were now 60,816.

He said 83 new fatalities were reported taking the death toll due to the pandemic to 4,637.

In addition, he said 879 cases were receiving treatment at intensive care units with 433 of them requiring respiratory assistance.

Dr Noor Hisham said 24 new clusters were reported involving 15 workplace clusters, seven community clusters, and one each of high-risk groups and detention centre clusters.

The workplace clusters are seven in Selangor namely Industri Jalan Bacang, Warisan Puteri construction site, Jalan Perdagangan Alam Jaya, Jalan Enam Selatan Dua, Jalan Bandar Satu, Industri Jalan Kidamai Dua and Industri Perusahaan Utama, as well as Industri Jalan Macalister and Tingkat Perusahaan 6A in Penang.

Other workplace clusters are Industri Jalan Usaha Dua (Melaka), Jalan Mangga Satu (Melaka), Jalan Raja Bot (Kuala Lumpur), Jalan Kukuban (Kuala Lumpur), Jalan Kempas Permatang (Johor) and Kemunting Market (Pahang).

Community clusters are in Nanga Tada, Jalan Kuala Tatau, Sungai Kotak and Tanjong Lelengau in Sarawak, Lorong Tun Mamat Dua (Melaka), Kampung Segambut Dalam (Kuala Lumpur), Jerung Surau (Terengganu).

Meanwhile, high-risk groups cluster and detention centre clusters were detected at Jalan Sepang (Selangor) and Tembok Jelebu (Negeri Sembilan), respectively, he added.

Dr Noor Hisham stated that with the addition of these clusters there were currently 851 active clusters.

-- BERNAMA