COVID-19: 17 new cases, one death recorded

He said the latest cases bring the cumulative total number of infections in the country to 9,334 cases and there are 160 active COVID-19 cases with infectivity.

“Of the 15 cases which were infected from abroad, 11 were Malaysians with four foreigners.

“The sources of these cases are India (12 cases in Kuala Lumpur), Saudi Arabia (2 cases in Kuala Lumpur and Japan (one case in Sarawak),” he said in a statement today.

On the two local transmissions involving Malaysians, Dr Noor Hisham said one case was detected in Selangor through screening for close contact with positive case number 9286th , while one case in Kedah was via screening for close contact with patient number 9284.

Dr Noor Hisham said there were 10 cases of full recovery from COVID-19 today, taking the cumulative total number of full recoveries to 9,048 cases or 96.9 per cent of the total overall cases.

He added so far seven positive COVID-19 patients are being treated at intensive care unit including five cases requiring respiratory assistance.

He said there was one COVID-19 death recorded in the last 24 hours, bringing the cumulative number of deaths from the virus to 126 cases (1.35 per cent of the overall cases).

According to Dr Noor Hisham, the 126th death (case no. 9290) was a 75-year-old local man who did not have history of overseas travel but had underlying health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

“He started having cough and breathing difficulty on Aug 7 2020 and was warded at Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital, Kedah for pneumonia and he was later discharged from the hospital on Aug 18.

“On Aug 21, he had cough and breathing difficulty again and was treated on Aug 24 at the same hospital. Screening test showed he was positive for COVID-19. His health deteriorated and was confirmed dead on Aug 29, at 5.10 pm,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham reminded the people on the importance of protecting high-risk groups due to COVID-19 infection complications.

People in high-risk groups including COVID-19 patients are senior citizens, pregnant women, chronic patients (with diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and so on) and patients with low immunity (cancer and human immunodeficiency virus patients).

He said individuals from these groups should avoid crowded places, observe standard operating procedure (SOP) stipulated by the government, wear face mask and quickly seek treatment when not feeling well.

“These vulnerable groups have much higher risks of getting complications and die from COVID-19 infection.

“Family members and caregivers living with individuals from this group should keep an eye for symptoms and practise cleanliness in the surrounding,” he said.