COVID: Only 0.1 per cent of new cases critical - Dr Noor Hisham

KUALA LUMPUR: Only 0.1 per cent or 13 of the 13,034 new COVID-19 cases reported today are in category five, which means critical patients requiring respiratory aid in the intensive care unit (ICU) for 21 days, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said 72 cases or 0.5 per cent were in category four, for patients with pneumonia who need oxygen supplementation and ICU care for an average of 14 days.

"One per cent or 124 of the cases reported today are in category three, which is for patients having pneumonia and require treatment and observation in hospital," he said in a statement.

Dr Noor Hisham said 12,825 cases or 98.4 per cent of the new cases were in categories two and one. Category two or cases with mild symptoms total 5,646 or 43.3 per cent while category one or asymptomatic cases account for 55.1 per cent or 7,179 cases.

He said active cases in the country now totalled 142,051, with 938 cases requiring treatment in ICU, including 459 cases on ventilators.

A total of 134 deaths were reported today, with 39 in Selangor, Federal Territory (32), Negeri Sembilan (18), Johor (15), Perak and Melaka (seven each), Pahang (five), Kedah (four), Penang, Terengganu and Labuan (two each), and Sabah (one), he added.

Dr Noor Hisham said 32 new COVID-19 clusters were detected, with 21 in workplaces, seven in the community, two involving education institutions and two linked to high-risk groups.

The infectivity rate or R0/RT for Malaysia is 1.09, with Terengganu registering the highest among states at 1.31.

The other states with RT exceeding 1.0 are Kedah (1.25), Sabah (1.21), Penang (1.21), Johor (1.20), Pahang (1.19), Putrajaya (1.18), Kelantan (1.18), Selangor (1.15), Perak (1.12), Negeri Sembilan (1.10), Melaka (1.10) and Kuala Lumpur (1.07).

-- BERNAMA