KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 — About 20 per cent of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia, or 1,712 people, are aged 18 years and below, according to the Ministry of Health (MOH).
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said out of these 1,712 cases as of today, 346 patients are aged 16 to 18 years.
“However, no deaths or intensive care unit (ICU) cases involving this age group have been reported. This shows that Covid-19 cases in this age group have a better recovery rate,” he said in a statement today.
The Health DG reiterated standard operating procedures (SOPs) on the reopening of schools from tomorrow, starting with students sitting for the Form Five SPM exam, Sijil Vokasional Malaysia, Form Six STPM exam, and Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia, and international exams of the same level.
The SOPs include temperature checks at schools for students, staff, and visitors; frequent hand hygiene; social distancing in classrooms with a maximum capacity of 20 students in a classroom; and staggered breaks. School gatherings and extra-curricular activities are still prohibited.
MOH announced the end of the Kuching church cluster that was detected last March 15, and infected 191 people and killed three.
“This cluster involved five generations [of spread] from various districts in Sarawak. Now, this cluster has reached its end,” Dr Noor Hisham said.
MOH also reported today three new Covid-19 cases, involving two foreigners and one Malaysian. One infected foreigner came from the Pedas cluster in Negri Sembilan, while two cases (a Malaysian and a foreigner) originated from the Sabah cluster linked to infected ward staff from Queen Elizabeth II Hospital and an infected senior citizen who died at home. The two new cases in the Sabah cluster were family members of Patient 8,506.
As of today, three Covid-19 patients are in ICU; none need ventilator support. No new fatalities from the coronavirus were reported today, with Malaysia’s Covid-19 death toll remaining at 121.
Malaysia’s total Covid-19 cases have reached 8,590, while total active infectious cases number at 283. Nine Covid-19 patients recovered and were discharged from hospital today, marking total recoveries at 8,186 cases.
