KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 — The number of new Covid-19 cases recorded today spiked to 3,545, increasing by more than half of yesterday’s cases, with over 1,000 new cases detected in Negri Sembilan.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in a statement today also revealed 12 new fatalities, bringing the death toll from the disease to 1,088.
Meanwhile, 3,331 people were reported to have recovered from the disease, leaving active cases at 30,677.
Only one case reported today was imported.
Negri Sembilan recorded a total of 1,392 cases today, becoming the largest contributor of new cases by state — displacing Selangor which had topped the list the most in recent months.
Today, Negri Sembilan was followed by Selangor (581 cases), Kuala Lumpur (381 cases), Sarawak (353 cases) and Johor (318 cases).
Dr Noor Hisham said that the rise in cases recorded in Negri Sembilan was due to the active screening of people involved in the Sungai Gadut Industrial cluster that was announced on February 22.
“Today, 1,338 new cases for this cluster were reported. The total number of cases in this cluster as of 24 February 2021 is 1,432 cases.
“Of these, 318 cases are Malaysians while 1,114 cases are non-Malaysians,” he said.
Perlis recorded no new cases for the second day in a row today.
Putrajaya, Labuan and Pahang recorded single digits with one, five and eight cases respectively.
The eight men and four women, who were recorded dead today, were aged between 52 and 98, with most having a history of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension or stroke.
Only one of them was a non-Malaysian.
Dr Noor Hisham said there are 189 Covid-19 patients warded in intensive care units (ICUs) across the country, with 88 of them needing breathing assistance.
In the past 24 hours, eight new clusters were also recorded.
These were identified as the Jalan Enam cluster in Selangor; Jalan Ulu Cho cluster, Lukut Industrial Cluster, and Jalan Dato Yunus cluster in Johor; Sinsingon cluster in Sabah; Pasar Bidor cluster in Perak; and Lorong Bakau and Vista Hilir clusters in Penang.
Collectively, these clusters are responsible for 213 cases to date, with the Lorong Bakau cluster recording the most (50 cases).
The recovery rate from Covid-19 in Malaysia stands at 89.11 per cent, while the death rate is 0.37 per cent.
Meanwhile, active cases make up 10.52 per cent of all cases recorded here.
