Health workers collect swab samples to test for Covid-19 in Shah Alam on Aug 1, 2021. – Malay Mail photo
KUALA LUMPUR (March 8): The Health Ministry today reported 26,856 new Covid-19 cases, down from 27,435 yesterday, bringing the total cumulative infections to 3,649,463.
In the last 24 hours, 77 Covid-19 deaths were also reported. The death toll in the country currently stands at 33,305 cases.
Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 26 of the deaths were classified as brought-in-dead (BID).
Johor reported the highest number of fatalities with 13, followed by Kedah and Selangor (12 each), Kelantan and Terengganu (six each), Negri Sembilan and Sabah (five each), Melaka and Perak (four each), Pahang and Putrajaya (three each) and Penang and Kuala Lumpur (two each).
No deaths were reported in Perlis, Sarawak and Labuan.
Dr Noor Hisham said active cases stand at 304,305, up 14 per cent compared to 14 days ago.
“Of these active cases, 386 are in intensive care units (ICU), with 223 requiring respiratory assistance,” he said.
There were also 30,726 recoveries.
Dr Noor Hisham said there were 1,869 new hospital admissions involving Covid-19 cases yesterday.
Of these, 1,144 cases were in Categories 1 and 2, with mild symptoms that do not require hospitalization, while 725 were in Categories 3, 4 and 5 that require hospitalisation as patients start to exhibit symptoms of lung inflammation.
Dr Noor Hisham added that Covid-19 intensive care units (ICUs) were at 42 per cent of their total capacity of 885 beds.
He said ICU beds in seven regions have exceeded 50 per cent capacity, namely Kelantan (73 per cent), Putrajaya (67 per cent), Kuala Lumpur (62 per cent), Johor (61 per cent), Selangor (60 per cent), Perak (53 per cent), and Labuan (57 per cent). – Malay Mail