The Malaysian Insight

AFTER a record-breaking number of new infections reported today, active cases also reached a new high with 147,386 people currently ill with Covid-19 nationwide, director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said.

According to Noor Hisham, 939 patients were currently in intensive care units nationwide, of whom 456 required respiratory support.

Meanwhile, 144 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours. The fatalities have raised the death toll to 7,718.

The country saw a record breaking high of 15,573 cases against 10,094 recoveries today. Only 32 of today’s cases were imported.

Today’s figures raised the national Covid-19 caseload to 980,491, with 825,387 recoveries.

In terms of states, Selangor continues to account for the bulk of the fatalities with 66 deaths. This is followed by Kuala Lumpur with 16, Johor with 15, Malacca with 13, Negeri Sembilan with 10, Pahang with eight, Kedah with six, and Sarawak with three.

Perak and Penang reported two cases each, while Sabah, Terengganu and Labuan reported one case respectively.

The health D-G said in a press conference today that 8,273 cases or 53.1% of today’s cases are Category 1 (asymptomatic), while 7,095 cases or 45.6% of today’s cases belong to Category 2 (mild symptoms).

Meanwhile, 103 cases or 0.6% of today’s cases are Category 3 (pneumonia), 74 cases or 0.5% of today’s cases are Category 4 (oxygen assistance required) and 29 cases or 0.2% of today’s cases are Category 5 (ventilator support required).

Noor Hisham added that the Baricitinib drug is a new drug that will be used to treat severe Covid-19 cases.

“The effects of this drug is said to be better than the ones we have used (in Covid-19 treatment), for example Favipiravir. So, this gives us hope that we can increase the effectiveness of treatment in critically-ill patients in Category 4 and 5,” he added.

He is also hopeful that this will prevent more fatalities. – July 23, 2021.