The Malaysian Insight

ACTIVE Covid-19 cases have continued to climb, with the authorities registering a new high of 128,997 people receiving treatment for the virus nationwide, director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said.

The new total surpasses the previous high of 124,593 recorded yesterday.

However, there was a slight decrease in the number of deaths today. Noor Hisham reported that 129 people succumbed to the virus over the past 24 hours, compared to a record 153 fatalities, again reported yesterday.

The new deaths have taken the cumulative death toll to 7,148.

There were 13 people declared dead on arrival (DOA) at hospital.

In terms of states, Selangor continued to account for the bulk of fatalities with 61 cases, followed by Kedah with 14 and Kuala Lumpur with 11 deaths.

Negri Sembilan and Malacca reported 10 cases each, Johor registered nine deaths, while Sarawak and Terengganu saw three cases each.

Sabah, Penang and Perak reported two deaths, while Labuan and Kelantan reported one each.

Meanwhile, 915 patients are currently in intensive care nationwide, of whom 435 require respiratory support.

New cases continued to outweigh recoveries with 10,972 new cases, compared to 6,439 recoveries.

With this, the cumulative caseload now stands at 927,533, with recoveries totalling 791,388.

Noor Hisham said 57.8% or 6,337 of today’s cases were in the asymptomatic Category 1 while 4,464 or 40.7% belonged to Category 2 with mild symptoms.

There were 103 cases or 0.9% in Category 3 with pneumonia, 42 or 0.4% in Category 4, which requires oxygen and 26 or 0.2% in critical condition and requiring a ventilator, in Category 5.

He said although there were only 171 cases in Categories 3,4 and 5 – accounting for 1.5% of today’s total – the numbers should not be taken lightly as it takes a long time to treat advanced cases.

Noor Hisham said it took 21 days on average to treat Category 5 cases, while Category 4 cases could take 14 days.

Higher category patients have to be monitored and cared for at hospitals.

“The long treatment period for such cases adds to congestion because we have limited capacity as beds fill up and (treatment centres) become congested. This will take a toll on the healthcare system, especially ICUs, hospitals and quarantine centres,” he said. – July 19, 2021.