COVID-19: Number of recoveries exceeds new cases - MOH

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said as of noon today, 118 new cases had been recorded, while 222 patients had been discharged.

The total number of positive COVID-19 cases in Malaysia to date is 4,346.

"The cumulative number of cases fully recovered from COVID-19 and discharged from the ward is 1,830, which is 42.11 per cent of the total number of cases," he said during the press conference on COVID-19 at the Ministry of Health (MOH) here today.

Yesterday, the COVID-19 situation in the country began to show some improvement when 121 patients who recovered exceeded the number of new positive cases of 109.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said 69 patients were currently in the Intensive Care Unit, with 40 requiring respiratory aids.

He said three more deaths had been recorded as of noon today, taking the tally of those who have succumbed to COVID-19 so far to 70.

"The 68th death (case number 694) was that of a 62-year-old Malaysian man with a history of diabetes and who had close contact with a COVID-19 positive case from the Seri Petaling cluster (case number 159).

"He was treated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Sabah on March 17, and pronounced dead on April 10, at 8.21 am," said Dr Noor Hisham.

The 69th death (case number 4229) was that of a 77-year-old Malaysian man with a history of diabetes.

He was treated at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital on March 27, and pronounced dead on April 10 at 4 am.

The 70th death (case number 4230) involved an 88-year-old Malaysian woman with a history of hypertension, heart disease and dementia.

She had been in close contact with case number 1684, and was treated at the University of Malaya Medical Centre on March 20, 2020, before being pronounced dead on April 10, 2020, at 2.38 am.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said the National Institute of Forensic Medicine had conducted an autopsy on a COVID-19 case under Section 16 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988.

"The autopsy found that the COVID-19 virus was detected on the surface of the body through Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (rt-PCR) analysis conducted by the Institute for Medical Research.

"The new findings are in line with the views previously presented by the MOH and agreed to by the National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs’ Muzakarah Committee’s special meeting on March 15, and the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Taoism on March 16," he said.

Based on the body handling procedure of COVID-19 patients, Dr Noor Hisham said remains of Muslims would only undergo the cleansing ritual via ‘tayammum’ (dry purification using purified sand or dust), done on the surface of the body bag, while for non-Muslims, any religious or traditional ritual could only be performed on the surface of the body bag.