KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 — Malaysia recorded seven new deaths from Covid-19 today, a peak previously reached on March 29.

The country also reached another record daily high of new cases at 871, beating the previous highest record of 869 cases reported yesterday.

Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said local transmission comprised 866 of the total reported cases while the remaining five cases were imported.

Despite recording a record-high number of cases, Dr Noor Hisham also said 701 individuals have recovered -- the highest recorded daily recoveries to date.

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All but one death were recorded in Sabah. The remaining one was recorded in Selangor.

“To date, 86 of the active cases are being treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), of which 28 of them require breathing assistance,” he added.

Four of the deceased were men — three Malaysians and one non-Malaysians — aged between 41 and 61.

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Two of the local men died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah while another local man died at the Duchess of Kent Hospital in Sandakan, Sabah.

The sole non-Malaysian man died in the Tawau Hospital.

All but one local man had pre-existing health conditions including high blood pressure and kidney problems.

The remaining three deceased were women — two Malaysians and one non-Malaysians — aged between 46 and 70.

One of the local women died in Tawau Hospital, while another local woman died at an unspecified medical centre.

The sole non-Malaysian woman died at the Duchess of Kent Hospital in Sandakan, Sabah.

Of the five imported cases, Dr Noor Hisham said two were from Nepal and India respectively while one was from Singapore.

Dr Noor Hisham also said 97 out of 871 cases (11.1 per cent) today were within the confines of controlled environments such as prisons that were isolated from the community.

Sabah recorded the highest number of cases, at 702 cases or 80.6 per cent of the total cases reported today.

This is followed by Selangor at 72 cases and Penang at 45 cases.