On Xmas Day, Malaysia sees 1,247 new Covid-19 cases and three deaths

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 25 —The Ministry of Health today announced 1,247 new Covid-19 infections nationwide in the last 24 hours, bringing Malaysia’s cumulative cases to 101,565 since the pandemic started.

Malaysia breached 100,000 cases yesterday when it recorded 1,581 cases yesterday.

Out of the 1,247 cases, two were imported cases while the remaining are local cases.

The number of active cases nationwide is currently at 18,576 cases with 108 patients admitted into the intensive care unit and 47 of whom need breathing assistance.

In a statement released by Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, three deaths were recorded today bringing the cumulative fatality to 449 cases which is 0.44 per cent from the overall number of cases.

The three fatalities involved two Malaysians and a foreigner. The two Malaysians are a 76-year-old man in Sabah and a 64-year-old woman in Selangor. The foreigner is a 65-year-old man in Sabah.

Selangor continues to top the list with the highest number of cases at 461 infections and out of that, 309 were from existing clusters and close contact.

Sabah recorded the second highest number of cases at 225 cases and Johor the third highest at 205 cases.

A total 211 cases reported are relatives to clusters in lockups, detention centres and prison involving Tembok Gajah Cluster (113 case), Penjara Jalan Harapan Cluster (86 cases), Tembok Cluster (8 cases) and Pompod Cluster (4 cases).

There are four new clusters identified in the last 24 hours; Cassia Diamond Cluster, Pompod Cluster, Kiara Construction Site Cluster and Perkasa Construction Site Cluster.

The Cassia Diamond Cluster spanned several districts and two states, namely Klang, Kuala Langat, Hulu Langat, Kuala Selangor and Gombak in Selangor and Southwest district in Penang.

The index case for this cluster was detected positive for Covid-19 yesterday and as at today, a total 76 individuals have been screened and 25 had tested positive.

The Pompod Cluster is in Kota Belud and Kudat in Sabah where the index case was found positive on December 13 and as at today, a total 216 individuals were screened and 19 had tested positive.

The Kiara Construction Site Cluster is in Kepong in Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur and the cases for this cluster were reported positive on December 21 through large-scale screening at the construction site. A total 372 individuals have been screened as at today and 13 cases were positive.

The Perkasa Construction Site Cluster is located in Cheras in Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur and the cases for this cluster were reported positive on December 22 through large-scale screening at the construction site. As at today, a total 451 individuals were screened and 11 had tested positive.

Meanwhile, the health ministry had conducted an online survey on the new normal between November 25 and 30 involving 35,841 respondents and found that a majority of the respondents, 93.3 per cent, wear face masks, maintained physical distancing (89.6 per cent) and wash their hands with soap or hand sanitiser (89.7 per cent).

The survey found that 93.8 per cent of the respondents will reprimand their family members if they don’t wear face masks, 90.1 per cent will reprimand their family members if they don’t maintain physical distance and 90.8 per cent will reprimand their family if they do not wash their hands or use hand sanitisers.

However, if it involved friends, only 82.2 per cent said they will reprimand them if they don’t wear face masks, 79.4 per cent if they don’t maintain physical distance and 79.2 per cent if they don’t wash their hands or use hand sanitiser.

Finally, it was found less respondents would tell off a stranger if they don’t wear masks (57.3 per cent), don’t maintain physical distance (59.6 per cent) and don’t wash their hands or use hand sanitiser (56.7 per cent).

The survey revealed that Malaysians are aware and have high self-control in adhering to the SOPs.