KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 — Malaysia has reported 1,030 Covid-19 cases as of today, including 26 patients under intensive care, marking a steady increase of critically ill cases.
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today reported 130 new coronavirus infections today and a total of 26 Covid-19 patients warded in the intensive care unit (ICU) and in need of breathing assistance.
A total of 48 of the 130 new cases are linked to the recent tabligh gathering at the Sri Petaling mosque here, while 624 of the total 1,030 cases were from that Muslim religious event. No other details were given on the remaining 82 new infections today.
Selangor remains the hardest-hit state in Malaysia with 263 coronavirus cases, followed by Kuala Lumpur (139), Sabah (119), and Johor (114). Most of the other states reported infections in the double digits.
The number of coronavirus cases in ICU has been gradually rising from nine last Sunday to 26 today.
Today marked the sixth consecutive day of daily new infections above 100.
Today’s additional 130 coronavirus cases is also the highest since last Sunday’s spike of 190 infections, contradicting Health Minister Dr Adham Baba’s claim yesterday that Malaysia’s Covid-19 outbreak was “plateauing” because of the national partial lockdown. Malaysia has also reported two deaths.
Malaysia is the worst-affected country in Southeast Asia and the third worst in Asia, after China where the virus originated from, and South Korea.
