Covid-19 (March 16): 1,063 new cases, 5 deaths

COVID-19 | The Health Ministry today reported 1,063 new Covid-19 cases, which is the lowest figure for daily new infections since Dec 9 last year. 

Malaysians made up the majority (76.9 percent) of new cases as opposed to foreigners, who were usually infected while working in construction sites or factories.

• Active cases: 15,204
• Patients in ICUs: 152
• Intubated: 68

Deaths

There were five new Covid-19 deaths reported today. Three were reported in Sarawak while Selangor and Kuala Lumpur reported one death each.

Sarawak has reported 94 Covid-19 related deaths and ranks fifth after Johor (103), Kuala Lumpur (112), Selangor (312) and Sabah (382).

The national Covid-19 death toll stood at 1,218.

The victims - all Malaysians with comorbidities - were aged between 69 and 84. Details of the victims are on Malaysiakini's Covid-19 tracker page.

Clusters

There are currently 428 active Covid-19 clusters of which 55 saw new cases.

The cluster with the highest new cases was Medan Bayan Lepas (58 new cases). This cluster was first reported on March 9 involving factory workers at the Bayan Lepas Free Industry Zone in Penang.

The Health Ministry classified five new clusters today of which none were the result of targeted screening of workplaces, unlike all the others this month.

There were three new clusters in Sarawak alone, of which one supermarket cluster saw all 19 people tested for Covid-19 returning positive.

Jalan Kampung Hilir cluster
District(s): Sibu, Sarawak
Locality/Source: Vicinity of Jalan Kampung Hilir
Cluster category: Community
First case: March 12, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 35 out of 41 screened

Nanga Bulo cluster
District(s): Julau, Sarawak
Locality/Source: Vicinity of Nanga Bulo
Cluster category: Community
First case: March 9, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 34 out of 160 screened

Banggol Chicha cluster
District(s): Pasir Mas, Kota Bharu and Tumpat, Kelantan
Locality/Source: Vicinity of Kampung Banggol Chicha, Pasir Mas
Cluster category: Community
First case: March 13, index case detected during pre-hospitalisation screening
Total infected: 17 out of 87 screened

Jalan Sanyan cluster
District(s): Sibu, Sarawak
Locality/Source: Supermarket in Jalan Sanyan
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: March 4, close contact screening
Total infected: All 19 screened

Jalan Taiping cluster
District(s): Kepong, Cheras and Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur
Locality/Source: Government office near Jalan Taiping
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: March 10, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 8 out of 137 screened