.jpg "A health worker in protective suit collects swab samples from a motorist at a drive-through testing site for Covid-19 at Ajwa Clinic in Shah Alam February 9, 2022. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Yusof Mat Isa")
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 14 — Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 cases recorded a slight uptick with the Health Ministry detecting 21,315 new infections in the past 24 hours.
The latest figure represents a marked increase of 243 cases from 21,072 new infections recorded yesterday.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah also disclosed that only 87 or 0.4 per cent of cases reported today were in Categories 3, 4 and 5 that required hospitalisation.
Comparatively, the hospitalisation rate has been 2.1 per cent on August 12, 2021, the last time the country had reported a similar number of new cases.
It also brings the total number of Covid-19 cases in the country, since the start of the pandemic, to 3,061,550.
“There are currently 199 patients being treated in intensive care units (ICU), of which 105 are suspected, probable or under investigation for Covid-19.
“Out of these 199, 115 need ventilators to help them breathe, including 47 who are confirmed as Covid-19 positive,” he said.
The figures were significantly lower than those seen on August 12 last year, when 1,059 patients had needed intensive care, including 543 who were intubated.
Today, Dr Noor Hisham added that 17 new clusters were detected over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of active clusters in the country to 435.
He said that Malaysia’s rate of infection currently stands at 1.43, with Labuan being the state with the highest infectivity rate, at 1.90.
