Covid-19: Malaysia reports 1,348 new cases, pushing actives past 18,000 mark, with five more deaths

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 23): Malaysia’s new Covid-19 cases dropped to 1,348 today from 2,062 reported yesterday, with 761 cases or 56% of the new cases coming from Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. Five more deaths were also recorded.

This raised the total confirmed infections in the country to date to 98,737. The new fatalities, meanwhile, raised the death toll from the coronavirus in the country to 444, according to Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said the deceased were three men and two women aged between 40 and 71 years. Two of the fatalities were reported in Selangor, while one each was recorded in Sabah, Kuala Lumpur and Negeri Sembilan.

And with the number of new recoveries coming in less than new infections at 710, the number of actives — those who carry high transmission risks — have moved past 18,000 to a new record high of 18,279. Total recoveries, meanwhile, stand at 80,014 or 81% of confirmed infections.

Selangor, said Dr Noor Hisham, contributed 535 new cases today, and topped the list of states with the most daily cases for the eighth straight day. “This was followed by Kuala Lumpur with 226 cases and Sabah with 189 cases,” said Dr Noor Hisham at a media briefing today.

He also noted that 193 of the new cases were detected from prison clusters and temporary detention centres, comprising the Jalan Harapan prison cluster in Selangor with 123 cases, the Tembok Gajah cluster in Johor (56 cases), the Kolam Air cluster in Kedah (eight cases), the Tembok cluster in Kedah (five cases), and the Hala Mutiara cluster in Perak (one case).

Among the new infections, 16 were imported cases — meaning those who contracted the virus from abroad.

Five new clusters detected, including two workplace-related clusters in KL

Dr Noor Hisham also announced that five new Covid-19 infection clusters have been identified, comprising two workplace-related clusters found in Kuala Lumpur.

The two workplace clusters are the Jalan Panah construction site cluster in Lembah Pantai with 21 positive cases, and the Menara Wang cluster that is spread across Lembah Pantai, Cheras and Titiwangsa with 23 cases, he said.

The remainder three clusters are the Saga Tengah cluster involving Tenom and Keningau in Sabah with 16 positive cases, the Kolam Air cluster involving Kota Setar and Kubang Pasu in Kedah with 14 cases, and the Hala Mutiara cluster in Kinta, Perak with seven cases.

To date, 464 clusters have been reported in the country, said Dr Noor Hisham.

Of that, 256 clusters have ended as no new cases were reported in 28 days, including three clusters that were closed today, namely the Kiambang and Padang clusters in Johor, and the Liawan cluster in Sabah.

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