GEORGE TOWN, July 14 — Only one critical Covid-19 patient from Kuala Lumpur has been sent to Penang for treatment, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said today amid viral claims of mass transfers due to the crisis in the Klang Valley.

"The news that went viral on this was not true at all,” he said in a statement today.

Chow was responding to news reports in the vernacular press that two busloads of Covid-19 patients have been transferred from Kuala Lumpur to Penang due to the shortage of beds in hospital intensive care units in the national capital.

The reports then spread like wildfire on social media.

Chow also said the transferred patient is now in a stable condition and under further observation.

Penang’s Covid-19 cases are seen to be at a more manageable level, enabling the state to dial back on some socio-economic restrictions and transition from Phase One to Phase Two under the National Recovery Plan on July 7.

Kuala Lumpur contributed 1,749 new cases to today’s national record of 11,618 infections in the last 24 hours, second after Selangor which logged 5,051 cases.

Negri Sembilan was third with 1,537 new cases.

This is the second day in a row where cases have broken through the 11,000 mark. Yesterday, Malaysia had 11,079 cases.