KOTA KINABALU: The Ministry of Health reported that Sabah recorded 489 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, the highest in the country, making up 77.7 per cent of the nation’s total of 629 case yesterday.
Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Tawau recorded the highest number of cases in the state, with three districts registering 114, 93 and 77 cases respectively.
Sabah also recorded five Covid-19 fatalities yesterday, three in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kota Kinabalu and one each in Duchess of Kent Hospital, Sandakan and Tawau Hospital.
The victims were aged between 39 and 74 with existing medical complications.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the overall total in Malaysia now stands at 18,758 cases while the death toll was 176 individuals and there were 12,259 full recoveries so far.
He said Sabah continued to record the highest new infections following more laboratory results obtained.
He said the laboratories in Sabah conducted 3,296 tests on Thursday and the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) is assisting to send 5,340 samples to Peninsular Malaysia for faster processing.
Other than the five deaths involving Malaysians in Sabah yesterday, one foreigner died in Kuala Lumpur, he said.
Dr Noor Hisham said that in Sabah, death case number 171st was a 66-year-old man in Queen Elizabeth Hospital who had hypertension, diabetes and stroke, the 172nd death was a 72-year-old man in the Duchess of Kent Hospital with heart disease and fatality number 173rd was a man, 39, in Semporna Hospital who was suffering from stroke.
Death case number 174th and 175th were from Queen Elizabeth Hospital involving a 74-year-old woman who had high blood pressure, diabetes and kidney problem and a man, 67, with hypertension, heart disease and stroke.
At Universiti Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, death number 176th involved a foreign man, 52, with diabetes, heart disease, psoriasis and spinal problem,” he said.
Ninety nine individuals who are positive for Covid-19 are being treated at Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with 31 of the requiring respiratory assistance.
“There are now 6,323 active cases with Covid-19 infectivity and they have been isolated and given treatment,” he said in a virtual media conference via the Ministry of Health (MOH) Facebook site yesterday.
Dr Noor Hisham said that for states in the Klang Valley under Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO), Selangor recorded 50 new cases, Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur (eight cases) and Putrajaya (two cases).
In Penang there were 33 cases, Federal Territory of Labuan (19 cases), Perak (nine cases), Kedah (seven cases), Johor (five cases), Melaka (three cases) and one case each in Negeri Sembilan and Pahang.
Commenting further, he said 627 cases were local transmissions involving 577 Malaysians and 50 foreigners while the two import cases reported involved Malaysians returning from New Zealand and Singapore.
“For local transmissions, 16 cases were visitors who returned from Sabah which brings the number of cases with history of travelling to Sabah since Sept 20 to 437 cases,” he said.