A total of 219 people succumbed to Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, a record figure since the onset of the pandemic, director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.
The previous high of 207 was a grim achievement on July 26 and again on July 27.
The fatalities today bring the death toll in the country to 9,403.
This is the eighth straight day Malaysia has a death toll in three figures, equalling the previous streak from July 12 to 19, 2021.
Of the deaths reported today, Selangor logged 105 fatalities, followed by Kuala Lumpur with 41 deaths and Johor with 24 deaths.
Other states to report deaths were Malacca with nine, Pahang (eight), Negri Sembilan (seven), Kedah and Perak (six each), Terengganu and Kelantan (four each), Sabah (three), and Perlis and Labuan (one each).
Of the victims, a total of 176 had underlying medical conditions, while 21 were pronounced dead on arrival (DOA).
Twenty-eight of those who succumbed to the disease today were foreigners, with 14 dying in Selangor and four in Kuala Lumpur.
The number of active cases nationwide is poised to push through the 200,000 mark, with today’s count at 199,051 cases and new cases continuing to outnumber recoveries for 38 consecutive days.
Today, Malaysia recorded 15,764 new cases compared with 11,767 recoveries.
Noor Hisham said of the new cases today, only 0.9% of the cases were categories 4 and 5 (the most serious), most were in categories 1, 2 or 3.
He said that 8,783 cases were category 1 (asymptomatic), 6,695 cases in category 2 (mild symptoms), 135 cases in category 3 (pneumonia), 64 cases in category 4 (pneumonia and require oxygen support) and 87 cases in category 5 (those in critical condition and in need of respiratory assistance through ventilation).
Besides this, Noor Hisham also said that a record number of 1,063 patients were receiving treatment in ICU, while the number of people requiring respiratory support increased by one to 532. – TMI