KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 — Health authorities announced today six new Covid-19 deaths, including five in Sabah, marking the ninth consecutive day of coronavirus-related fatalities in the stricken state.
Sabah also reported a record high of 489 Covid-19 cases today, about 78 per cent of 629 infections nationwide. The 629 cases include 627 local transmissions and two imported cases, according to the Ministry of Health (MOH). Sabah previously reported 488 coronavirus infections on October 11.
All six patients who died had some underlying health conditions, such as high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, kidney, heart, bone diseases and skin disease.
Of the five patients in Sabah, four of them were aged between 66 to 74 years, while one man was aged 39 years. Another man aged 52 died in University Malaya Medical Centre in Selangor. The six deaths bring the country’s Covid-19 death toll to 176.
Sabah has been recording Covid-19 fatalities for nine consecutive days, bringing the death toll in the state to 34 from October 8 until today. No other states reported coronavirus-related casualties in that period, except today with the Selangor case.
From October 9 until today, a total of 23 Malaysians and six foreign nationals have died in Sabah. MOH did not specify the nationality of the five death cases on October 8.
Today’s Covid-19 cases were reported in Sabah (489 cases), Selangor (50 cases), Kuala Lumpur (10 cases), Perak (9 cases), Kedah (7 cases), Johor (5 cases), Melaka (3 cases), Putrajaya (2 cases), Negeri Sembilan (one case), and Pahang (one case).
Sabah has recorded 4,409 Covid-19 cases since October 1 until today. That is 58.52 per cent from the total of Covid-19 cases (7,534 cases) nationwide.
Of the local transmissions nationwide, a total of 437 positive cases involved individuals who had a travel history to Sabah from September 20 until today.
MOH also reported three new clusters today in Perak, Kedah, Selangor and Putrajaya.
Perak’s Lekir cluster was identified in Manjung district. The index patient (Patient 17,528) of this cluster tested positive on October 14 through a symptomatic screening. So far, six patients have been tested positive under this cluster.
Next, the Buntar cluster involved three states in the country– Kuala Muda district in Kedah, Kerian district in Perak, and Putrajaya. The index case (Patient 18,035) was positively detected with the coronavirus on October 15 through a symptomatic screening. A total of eight individuals have been detected with Covid-19 under this cluster.
The third cluster, Merbok cluster, involved Kuala Langat, Klang, Kuala Selangor and Petaling districts in Selangor. A symptomatic screening revealed the index patient (Patient 17,983) on October 9. As of today, eight patients have tested positive under this cluster.
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah classified close contacts of Covid-19 patients as those who were exposed to Covid-19 patients in less than one-metre distance, individuals who have shaken hands or touched a Covid-19 patient without practicing any protective measures, and people who are at a close range when a Covid-19 patient sneezes.
“We found that 75 per cent of them were positive on the first day, 25 per cent tested positive on the 13th day, as the quarantine period is 14 days. So we have to be quarantined for a period of 14 days so that we can make sure that those 25 per cent people are not missed from the quarantine measure,” Dr Noor Hisham stated in a virtual press conference.
“If the first test is negative, there is a possibility of less than 25 per cent of people being tested positive on the 13th day.”
A total of 6,323 patients are receiving treatment in hospitals, with 99 patients being admitted in the intensive care unit (ICU), including 31 patients under ventilator support.
So far, 12,259 patients have been recovered from Covid-19 in the country. That includes 245 patients who were discharged today
So far, the country has recorded 18,758 Covid-19 cases.
