KUALA LUMPUR (July 18): Malaysia’s cumulative number of Covid-19-related deaths topped 7,000 today after the daily number of pandemic-linked fatalities rose to a new record high at 153 from 138 yesterday while the number of newly-confirmed Covid-19 infections fell to 10,710 from 12,528, according to Health director general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

Dr Noor Hisham said in his Twitter update today the daily number of newly-confirmed Covid-19 infections fell partly due to the sharp drop in infections here (Kuala Lumpur) and in Negeri Sembilan to below 1,000 cases each. He said the 10,710 newly-confirmed Covid-19 infected individuals today brought the country’s total number of pandemic cases to 916,561 so far.

According to him, Kuala Lumpur’s daily number of fresh Covid-19 cases fell to 945 today from 1,740 yesterday while new cases in Negeri Sembilan fell to 771 from 1,280. 

Elsewhere, the daily number of newly-confirmed pandemic cases in Melaka fell to 289 from 569 while Penang’s daily figure dropped to 295 from 396, according to him.

Selangor, which remained as the state with the highest daily number of new Covid-19 cases, reported a drop in fresh infections at 4,828 from 4,985 while the number of new cases in Perlis rose to five from one, he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said Malaysia’s record high daily number of Covid-19-related deaths at 153 today brought the nation’s cumulative pandemic-linked fatalities to 7,019.

He said the 153 deaths involved 125 Malaysians and 28 foreigners.

Dr Noor Hisham had also provided nationwide updates on the daily percentage of individuals who tested positive for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes the Covid-19 pandemic. He said the individuals were tested using the Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) and Antigen Rapid Test Kit (RTK-Ag) methods.

For today (July 18), he said the positivity rate stood at 8.68% based on the 123,386 individuals who were tested and 10,710 newly-confirmed persons who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

Dr Noor Hisham, whose updates comprise Covid-19 test figures since last Monday (June 12), said today that yesterday’s (July 17) positivity rate was 9.5% based on the 131,892 individuals who were tested and the 12,528 confirmed positive cases.

At a glance, notable updates in the seven-day statistical table include last Thursday’s (July 15) figures when Malaysia's number of newly-confirmed Covid-19 cases rose to a record high of 13,215.

Dr Noor Hisham said today the positivity rate on Thursday stood at 9.82% after taking into account the 134,569 persons who were tested on that day.

Today, he said there is still capacity available in the form of private laboratories to conduct more Covid-19 tests on individuals.

“The capacity will be used to conduct Covid-19 tests especially for targeted testing,” he said.

Across the nation’s hospitals today, Dr Noor Hisham said 909 Covid-19 patients are being treated at intensive care units and that 445 are intubated to help them breathe.

He said 5,778 individuals were reported to have recovered from Covid-19 today and that the figure brought the country’s cumulative number of persons who have recovered from the pandemic to 784,949 so far.

“The total number of active (Covid-19) cases stood at 124,593,” he said.

In a separate statement today, Dr Noor Hisham said the 10,710 newly-confirmed Covid-19 infected individuals today comprise 10,698 local transmission cases and 12 imported cases.

He said the 10,698 local transmission cases comprise 8,579 Malaysians and 2,119 foreigners.

On the 153 Covid-19-related deaths reported today, Dr Noor Hisham said 82 were reported in Selangor, 17 in Kuala Lumpur, 14 in Negeri Sembilan and 10 in Johor.  

He said eight fatalities were reported in Kedah, six in Pahang, five in Melaka, two each in Sabah, Penang and Putrajaya and one each in Terengganu, Sarawak, Kelantan, Perak and Labuan.

Meanwhile, Malaysia identified 17 new Covid-19 clusters today. Dr Noor Hisham said the new clusters brought the nation’s total number of pandemic clusters to 3,250 so far.

Out of the 3,250 clusters, 2,345 have ended while 905 are still active, according to him.

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