KUALA LUMPUR, April 9 — Malaysia has a coronavirus disease (Covid-19) mortality rate of just 1.58 per cent, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.

While he reported another two more Covid-19 deaths to bring the country’s total to 67, Dr Noor Hisham highlighted that Malaysia’s death rate from the disease was among the lowest in the world.

Other countries are reporting averages of between 4.6 per cent and 5.6 per cent, he said. Some such as Italy, the UK and the Netherlands have fatality rates of over 10 per cent.

Malaysia’s recovery rate of 38 per cent is also higher than the global average of around 21.7 per cent.

"So, our country’s death rate is low. This shows that the healthcare provided, be it in wards or intensive care units, is of a good and satisfactory standard.

"Our experts, such as intensivists and anaesthesiologists, are offering effective treatment to the Covid-19 patients,” Dr Noor Hisham said.

He also suggested that some of the deaths could possibly have been avoided if the patients had sought treatment earlier.

While nearly nine in 10 patients sought Covid-19 testing and treatment when they were either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, some came in only when they already needed intensive care.

Covid-19 survivability typically plummets once intensive care is required as there are usually accompanying complications.

Globally, Covid-19 has infected over 1.5 million people and claimed more than 88,000 lives.