KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 — Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya have reported the highest Covid-19 mortality rate in Malaysia, with one death every 100,000 people in the capital and administrative region, according to official statistics.
Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya recorded 1.01 deaths from Covid-19 per 100,000 of their population (or 0.001 per cent crude mortality rate), followed by Perlis (0.78), Negri Sembilan (0.70), Sarawak (0.67), Johor (0.56), Melaka (0.53), Pahang (0.42), Selangor (0.37), Perak (0.24), Sabah (0.21), Kelantan (0.16), Kedah (0.14), Penang (0.11), and Terengganu (0.08).
Despite reporting the highest number of Covid-19 deaths in the country at 24, Selangor’s mortality rate only came in eighth highest at 0.37 deaths per 100,000 population in Malaysia’s most populous state with an estimated 6.6 million residents. Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya have an estimated 1.9 million-strong population.
States reporting the lowest Covid-19 death rate per 100,000 population were predominantly in the east coast and northern region, with Terengganu the lowest at 0.08, followed by Penang (0.11), Kedah (0.14), Kelantan (0.16), and Sabah (0.21).
According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), which released a breakdown of Malaysia’s 128 Covid-19 deaths according to state as of August 30, Selangor reported the highest number of coronavirus fatalities in Malaysia at 24, followed by Johor (21), and 19 each in Sarawak, and Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.
Perlis, the smallest state in the country by population with an estimated 255,000 inhabitants, recorded the third lowest number of Covid-19 deaths at two, but its mortality rate is the second highest in Malaysia.
CodeBlue calculated the Covid-19 mortality rate in various states by comparing the total number of deaths in each state against the population size by state in the first quarter of 2020, as estimated by the Department of Statistics.
Malaysia’s 128 Covid-19 fatalities comprised 122 Malaysians and six foreign nationals — the Philippines (two), Indonesia (one), Pakistan (one), India (one), and others (one) — reported from the first death on March 17 to August 30.
The top five states with the highest number of total Covid-19 cases in Malaysia as of August 30 were Kuala Lumpur (2,587), Selangor (2,167), Negri Sembilan (1,034), Johor (751), and Sarawak (699).
The majority of people in Malaysia at 69 per cent, who succumbed to Covid-19, are aged 61 years and above, according to MOH.
Statistics released by MOH on Malaysia’s 128 fatalities from Covid-19 showed 46 deaths in the age group above 70 (or 36 per cent), followed by 42 deaths in the 61 to 70 age group (33 per cent), totalling 88 out of 128 deaths, or 69 per cent.
Eighteen people in Malaysia who died from coronavirus were aged 51 to 60 (or 14 per cent), followed by 12 victims aged 21 to 40 (or 9.4 per cent), and 10 deaths in the 41 to 50 age group (7.8 per cent).
“Eighty-eight cases of deaths were older than 60 years, while the youngest fatality was aged 23 years, and the oldest 101 years old,” Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said yesterday.
“A large proportion of deaths had a history of chronic illnesses.”
