Covid-19 (Jan 13): 3,684 cases, slight uptick in hospital admissions

COVID-19 | The Health Ministry reported 3,684 new Covid-19 cases today, bringing the cumulative infections to 2,798,917.

The number is the highest in 14 days, since Dec 30. It is also more than the number of Covid-19 patients who recovered, which totalled 3,292.

This is expected to contribute to a rise in the number of active cases.

The national R-number for Covid-19 has dipped back below the 1.00 threshold, after briefly reaching 1.00 for the first time since late November. The figure as of yesterday was 0.99.

At the state level, the R-number is at or above 1.00 in Sabah (1.08), Putrajaya (1.08), Kuala Lumpur (1.08), Negeri Sembilan (1.02), and Malacca (1.02).

An R-number above 1.00 would indicate an accelerating outbreak if sustained, while the reverse would indicate an outbreak that is in decline.

• Patients in ICU: 192
• Intubated: 91

As of today, the number of Covid-19 patients (including suspected ones) in the intensive care unit (ICU) is 24.1 percent lower compared to a week ago.

Those who require intubation have also declined by 30.0 percent from a week ago.

Nationally, hospital admissions of confirmed Covid-19 patients have risen narrowly, increasing by 1.1 percent in the last seven days compared to the preceding week.

To date, 178 Covid-19 clusters are still active, including eight new clusters reported today.

The ongoing clusters have fallen by 6.3 percent from the 190 active clusters a week ago.

The Health Ministry will only publish today's breakdown of new cases by states after midnight on its CovidNow portal.

The breakdown by states for yesterday (Jan 12), when 3,198 new cases were reported, is as follows:

Selangor (935)
Johor (417)
Kuala Lumpur (319)
Sabah (280)
Pahang (210)
Kelantan (197)
Kedah (183)
Penang (179)
Perak (141)
Negeri Sembilan (106)
Malacca (76)
Terengganu (76)
Putrajaya (34)
Sarawak (23)
Perlis (13)
Labuan (9)