KUALA LUMPUR (March 12): Malaysia logged 1,575 new Covid-19 cases today, marking the seventh straight day that daily infections have stayed below the 2,000 mark. But three more deaths from the illness were recorded, raising the death toll to 1,203.
Daily recoveries, on the other hand, continued to exceed fresh infections at 2,042, which further trimmed the number of active cases — which carry infection risks — to 17,074. This is the lowest reported figure since Dec 22 last year, when active cases numbered 17,646.
Selangor continues to contribute the highest number of new infections at 751, followed by Sarawak (173), Johor (135) and Penang (132), according to Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in a statement.
Other States that also reported fresh infections today were Kuala Lumpur (108), Sabah (57), Perak (44), Kelantan (43), Negeri Sembilan (32), Melaka (25), Perlis (25), Kedah (23), Terengganu (16), Pahang (four), Putrajaya (four) and Labuan (three).
The latest fatalities involved a 69-year-old man from Sabah, a 69-year-old woman from Selangor and a 59-year-old man from Kuala Lumpur. Two were Malaysians while one was a foreigner and they had heath complications such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and obesity.
Among the new infections, only seven were imported while the rest were local transmissions, according to Dr Noor Hisham’s statement.
As for the locally-transmitted cases, 1,269 cases or 80.9% involved Malaysians while 299 or 19.1% were foreigners.
The latest additions put Malaysia's total Covid-19 cases at 320,939, with 302,662 total recoveries.
So far, 147 patients are being treated in intensive care units with 67 needing ventilators to breathe.