We need to brace Omicron storm together - Health DG

Dr Noor Hisham, in a Twitter post, said many countries in the region are seeing an upward trend in COVID-19 cases.

"Please get vaccinated and get your booster dose to protect yourself and your loved ones," he said.

Malaysia recorded 27,831 new COVID-19 cases today, the highest daily figure since the first positive case was reported in January 2020.

Of the total, 27.33 per cent or 7,606 cases are in category one, 72.32 per cent or 20,128 cases in category two; 0.21 per cent or 59 cases in category three; 0.10 per cent or 28 cases in category four and 0.04 per cent or 10 cases in category five.

In another tweet, Dr Noor Hisham said while most patients were in the lower categories when they were first tested or diagnosed, for example, 99.65 per cent were in categories one and two today, the conditions of some of them deteriorated and they ended up in the higher categories over the next few days, including requiring admissions to the COVID-19 Quarantine and Treatment Centre (PKRC) or hospitals.

He said as of 5 pm today, a total of 1,269 new cases were hospitalised, of which 428 cases (33.7 per cent) were in categories three, four and five.

"A total of 841 cases or 66.3 per cent are in categories one and two," he said.

According to Dr Noor Hisham, the number of COVID-19 patients in non-ICU and ICU beds had increased while that in the PKRC had decreased today compared to yesterday.

He added that the usage of ICU beds for COVID-19 cases in two states was over 50 per cent, namely Johor with 61 per cent and Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, 51 per cent.

As for PKRC, he said Melaka recorded a 100 per cent bed utilisation rate, followed by Selangor (82 per cent).

Nine states recorded over 50 per cent bed utilisation rate, namely Negeri Sembilan (79 per cent), Pahang (71 per cent), Kelantan (67 per cent), Sabah (64 per cent), Johor (63 per cent), Kedah (62 per cent) and Perak (56 per cent).