Covid: Malaysia records 0.4 per cent increase in new cases - Health DG

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia has recorded a 0.4 increase in the number of new Covid-19 cases for the Epidemiological Week 23 (ME 23), from June 5 to 11, to 11,096 cases compared with 11,052 cases reported in the previous week (ME 22).

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the cumulative number of Covid-19 cases in the country currently stood at 4,524,727.

He said the average daily active cases for the ME 23 recorded a 5.5 per cent drop, which was 22,013 cases compared with the previous week.

"The average infectivity rate (Rt value) showed a 5.5 per cent increase at 0.96, compared with 0.91 reported in the previous week,” he said in a statement today.

He said the number of recovered cases in ME 23 also dropped by 21.7 per cent (13,797 cases to 10,806 cases) compared with the ME 22, bringing the cumulative recoveries to 4,466,305.

Dr Noor Hisham said the number of deaths on the ME 23 also showed a 3.8 per cent drop, with 25 cases compared with 26 cases in the previous week, bringing the cumulative deaths to Covid-19 to 35,711.

Meanwhile, he said the admission of Covid-19 patients into health facilities, namely public hospitals and the Covid-19 Quarantine and Treatment Centres (PKRCs) per 100,000 population, has decreased by 10 per cent for the same ME compared to the previous ME.

"However, the number of Covid-19 patient admission to public hospitals per 100,000 population has increased by 20 per cent. The number of cases requiring breathing assistance has decreased by 20 per cent.

"On the overall, the bed occupancy at PKRCs increased by 200 per cent and non-critical bed occupancy also increased by eight per cent while the use of intensive care unit (ICU) beds dropped by 17 per cent,” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said Covid-19 positive cases monitored by the Covid-19 Assessment Centres (CAC) nationwide also dropped with patient arrivals at CAC down by 8.7 per cent and the number of new Covid-19 cases undergoing home monitoring dropped by 0.5 per cent.

However, the number of Covid-19 cases referred by CAC to PKRCs or hospitals has increased by 51.9 per cent, he said. - BERNAMA