KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 — The Health Ministry today reported 563 new Covid-19 cases and two deaths over the past 24 hours.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said of the 563, only one was an imported case involving a local returnee from Indonesia.
He said this brings the total number of active cases to 5,039.
He added that out of the 562 local transmission cases, 498 cases involved locals while the remaining 64 cases involved foreigners.
Dr Noor Hisham said Sabah recorded the highest number of cases with 291 cases today due to high volume of screenings conducted in airports and the implementation of enhanced movement control order (EMCO) at certain parts of the state.
Apart from Sabah, Penang recorded 141 cases from the Penjara Reman cluster, Selangor (69), Kuala Lumpur (27), Negri Sembilan (12), Kedah (10), Perak (four), Johor, Putrajaya and Labuan recorded two cases respectively, while Sarawak and Melaka recorded one case each.
Dr Noor Hisham said the first deceased has been identified as a Malaysian female, 85, with a history of illnesses. She passed away at the Tawau hospital.
The second deceased is a foreign female, 48, who passed away at the Tuaran Hospital.
Dr Noor Hisham said the number of patients requiring intensive care has risen to 98, up from 90 yesterday with the number of people requiring ventilator support remaining at 29.
On the situation in Sabah, the Health D-G said there was sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) and added that the ministry will ensure it will be distributed to those in need as soon as possible.
He said the Health Ministry has also mobilised health workers from other states to Sabah to resolve the lack of staff after several health workers there were infected by the virus and required to undergo quarantine.
