KUALA LUMPUR, April 20 — The Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 2,341 new Covid-19 cases nationwide today, as Kelantan notched a 24-hour record high of 429 infections.
Over the past eight days, Kelantan has been recording three-digit new coronavirus infections daily, finally surpassing the 400 mark today.
Today also marked the sixth consecutive day of more than 2,000 daily Covid-19 cases reported nationwide since April 15, as epidemiologists warn Malaysia that the fourth wave of the Covid-19 epidemic is inevitable.
Sarawak registered the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the country today at 600 cases, followed by Selangor (539 cases) and Kelantan (429 cases).
Between April 14 and April 20, on average, Kelantan reported 268 cases daily. Before that, for the month of April, Kelantan has been reporting below 100 daily coronavirus cases, except for April 6 (126 cases), April 9 (143 cases), and April 10 (171 cases), when the state reported three-digit cases a day.
Back in March, Kelantan only recorded double-digit Covid-19 cases, except for March 27 when the east coast state recorded 138 infections. Kelantan currently has 2,585 active Covid-19 cases.
One new educational cluster was detected in Pasir Mas, Kelantan, involving staff and students of an education centre in Pasir Mas registering 28 cases.
Kelantan state health director Dr Zaini Hussin yesterday told Malaysiakini that beds for Covid-19 patients in hospitals and quarantine centres in Kelantan are filling up. Dr Zaini said that if cases continue to rise in Kelantan, Covid-19 patients will be forced to undergo home quarantine.
Seven districts in Kelantan are currently under the movement control order (MCO) until April 29 in which inter-district travel is banned, and shops and petrol stations allowed to operate only until 10pm. No social or formal events are allowed.
Out of the 66 sub-districts in Kelantan, 18 of them are currently red zones as they have registered more than 40 new cases in the past fortnight, 14 in the orange zone with 21 to 40 cases, 32 sub-districts in yellow zones, and only two sub-districts in the green zone with no cases.
Malaysia has recorded 379,473 cumulative Covid-19 cases as of today.
Currently, there are 21,268 active Covid-19 cases nationwide, among which 249 patients are being treated in the intensive care unit and 95 of them are on ventilator support.
Seven new Covid-19 clusters were reported today — four community clusters, two educational clusters, and workplace clusters in Kelantan, Sarawak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, and Penang.
Three new Covid-19 casualties were reported today, bringing the death toll to 1,389.
