Covid-19: 8 new infections and one death, active cases fall below 1,000

CORONAVIRUS | Malaysia today recorded eight new Covid-19 cases comprising two imported cases and six local transmissions.

Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (above) said the six local transmissions were made up of two citizens and four foreigners.

"All four cases among foreigners are from the Kuala Lumpur construction site two clusters," he said during the Health Ministry briefing in Putrajaya today.

Noor Hisham said the two citizens were from an influenza-like illness screening in Bintulu involving a polytechnic student and another from the screening of old folks home in Malacca.

As for the two imported cases, he said they were non-citizens with permanent resident status.

At present, no foreigners are allowed into the country except for those under Malaysia My Second Home (M2HH) programme, permanent residents and long-term social visit pass holders.

Noor Hisham also reported one new death involving an Indian national, bringing the total fatalities from Covid-19 to 121 cases.

The 67-year-old man was a detainee at the Bukit Jalil immigration depot where a major Covid-19 outbreak had taken place.

He had a history of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and kidney disease.

He was found unconscious at the detention centre and was brought to Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

He passed away on June 12. A Covid-19 test found he was positive and a post-mortem is still ongoing.

Meanwhile, Noor Hisham said another 35 Covid-19 patients have been discharged, bringing the total recoveries to 7,346 or 86.9 percent of total cases.

This means the number of Covid-19 patients is now at 986, the first time active cases had gone under 1,000 since March 20.

Of these, four are in the intensive care unit.

The data released today is for the last 24 hours up to noon today.

A total of 9,279 swab test for Covid-19 were conducted yesterday by government labs.

However, private labs have yet to report their latest numbers to the government.

Today is also the last daily Health Ministry briefing on Covid-19. From next week onwards, the briefings will be held every Monday and Thursday.

Noor Hisham reiterated for Malaysians to avoid crowded places, confined spaces and close conversations which he referred to as the "3Cs", as a precaution against Covid-19.

He also reminded the people to wash their hands with soap, wear a face mask in public and heed warnings from the Health Ministry, referred to as the "3Ws".