Covid-19 (Oct 18): Another record high with 871 new cases

COVID-19 | The country today registered 871 new Covid-19 cases, marking yet another record high for the second consecutive day since the start of the pandemic in January, according to Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

A total of 869 new cases were recorded yesterday. The new cases today bring the cumulative infections to date to 20,498.

Noor Hisham, speaking at a press conference in Putrajaya this evening, also reported seven deaths today.

The seven new deaths are as follows:

Case 13,525 (Death 181): 61-year-old in Sabah, died at Hospital Queen Elizabeth. No pre-existing conditions.

Case 12,984 (Death 182): 70-year-old in Sabah, died at Hospital Tawau. Had high blood pressure.

Case 13,706 (Death 183): 57-year-old in Sabah, died at Hospital Queen Elizabeth. Had high blood pressure.

Case 20,328 (Death 184): 55-year-old in Sabah, died at Hospital Duchess of Kent. Had high blood pressure.

Case 20,329 (Death 185): 41-year-old in Sabah, died at Hospital Tawau. No pre-existing conditions.

Case 17,779 (Death 186): 44-year-old in Sabah, died at Duchess of Kent Hospital. Had heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and dyslipidemia.

Case 20,401 (Death 187): 46-year-old in Selangor, died at an undisclosed hospital. Had no pre-existing conditions.

The number of Covid-19 patients undergoing treatment also crossed the 7,000 mark for the first time, now standing at 7,049 patients.

There are a total of 86 Covid-19 patients undergoing treatment in an intensive care unit (ICU) with 28 of which need a ventilator to breathe.

On the flip side, the country today also recorded 701 recoveries, the highest number of discharged in a day to date.

Of the 871 new cases today, 866 are locally transmitted while five were imported.

The breakdown of the new locally-transmitted cases today are as follows:

Sabah (702 new cases)

Kepayan Prison cluster (new): 49 cases

Existing clusters: 81 cases

Other screening sources: 572 cases

Selangor (72 new cases)

Auto cluster (new): 5 cases

Existing clusters: 32 cases

Other screening sources: 35 cases

Penang (45 new cases)

Alma cluster (new): 3 cases

Existing clusters: 40 cases

Other screening sources: 2 cases

Perak (10 new cases)

Existing clusters: 10 cases

Labuan (9 new cases)

Bah Layangan cluster (new): 1 case

Existing clusters: 6 cases

Other screening sources: 2 cases

Kedah (9 new cases)

Existing clusters: 8 cases

Other screening sources: 1 case

Kuala Lumpur (7 new cases)

Existing clusters: 4 cases

Other screening sources: 3 cases

Sarawak (5 new cases)

Existing clusters: 4 cases

Other screening sources: 1 case

Negeri Sembilan (3 new cases)

Existing clusters: 1 case

Other screening sources: 2 case

Terengganu (2 new cases)

Existing clusters: 2 cases

Johor (1 new case)

Existing clusters: 1 case

Malacca (1 new case)

Existing clusters: 1 case  

The four new clusters today include the Alma cluster involving the districts of Seberang Perai Selatan and Seberang Perai Tengah in Penang, Auto cluster involving the districts of Petaling, Kuala Langat and Klang in Selangor and Seremban in Negeri Sembilan.

The other two clusters are Kepayan Prison cluster in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah and Bah Layangan cluster in Labuan.

Elaborating on the situation in Sabah which is the most severe, Noor Hisham said the state has recorded cumulative cases of 7,439 to date.

He added that a total of 251,030 people in the state have been screened. Sabah has a positive rate of 2.96 percent.