Covid-19: Malaysia’s new cases climb to 1,772 as KL infections spike to 696

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 15): Malaysia’s new Covid-19 cases climbed to 1,772 today — from 1,371 reported yesterday — staying at the four-digit level for six straight days as Kuala Lumpur registered the highest number of new daily cases at 696.

The previous record high for the federal territory was 493 cases reported on Nov 29.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 568 cases in Kuala Lumpur came from the Damanlela construction site cluster, involving the fifth and sixth generations of infections.

The Damanlela construction site cluster — which encompassed the districts of Lembah Pantai, Kepong and Titiwangsa — was reported by the Ministry of Health on Nov 7, involving an index case who tested positive for Covid-19 from the detention screening.

To date, the cluster has 2,451 total infections from 4,311 individuals who went for Covid-19 screenings. Meanwhile, the latest tally of active cases — those who carry high transmission risks — stood at 1,015.

In terms of overall cases in Kuala Lumpur, Dr Noor Hisham said 629 infections were confirmed from the existing Covid-19 clusters, 31 cases from screening of close contacts of Covid-19 positive patients, 28 cases from other Covid-19 screenings while the remaining eight cases were imported.

Aside from Kuala Lumpur, Selangor — the second worst-hit state — reported 503 cases, followed by Sabah with 260 infections, according to Dr Noor Hisham’s statement.

As for the Covid-19 related prisons and temporary detention centres, Dr Noor Hisham said 120 cases were confirmed today, including the Tembok cluster in Kedah with 99 cases, the Jalan Harapan prison cluster in Selangor (15 cases) and the Bakti cluster in Negeri Sembilan (six).

Active cases rose to 14,515 from 13,830 previously. The last time Malaysia’s active cases breached the 14,000-mark was on Nov 24, with 14,353 active cases. There are 118 patients in intensive care units with 56 needing ventilators.

Furthermore, three more fatalities were reported today — all in Sabah — raising the Covid-19 death toll to 422. The deceased, involving two men and one woman, were aged between 45 and 88 years.

They had health complications such as diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease, stroke, prostate disease, blindness, chronic lung disease and heart disease.

Among the new infections, 12 were imported cases involving those who had returned from Nigeria (three), Turkey (two), Pakistan (two), Qatar (two), Nepal (one), the US (one), and Indonesia (one).

On the bright side, 1,084 Covid-19 patients have recovered from the disease, bringing total recoveries to date to 71,681.

The country’s total cases soared to 86,618 from just 65,697 cases as at Nov 30.

No new Covid-19 clusters today

Dr Noor Hisham said there were no new Covid-19 clusters reported today, maintaining the total clusters in the country at 418.

On another note, 229 total clusters have been declared ended by the ministry — as no new cases were reported in 28 days — including two clusters which came to an end today, namely the Istimewa and Sepanggar clusters in Sabah.

So far, the country has 189 active clusters. From that total, 55 clusters reported new infections today.

Among the clusters reported, the Damanlela construction site cluster registered the highest number of new infections today with 568 cases, followed by the Tembok cluster (99), and the Bina Rimbun construction site cluster in Negeri Sembilan (27).

Get the latest news @ www.EdgeProp.my

Subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest stories and updates 

Click here for more property stories