Malaysia announced 432 new Covid-19 cases today, a new record daily high for the country as minister Datuk Zulkifli Mohamad tested positive earlier and most of the Cabinet are placed on house quarantine.
Out of those cases, 429 were local cases and just three were import cases.
The bulk of the new cases comes from Kedah (241 cases) and Sabah (130).
Selangor recorded 34 new cases, Kuala Lumpur seven, Terengganu five and Labuan four.
Johor, Perak and Putrajaya recorded two cases each, while Kelantan, Negri Sembilan, Melaka, Pahang and Sarawak recorded one case each.
Director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the new cases bring the national caseload to 12,813, with 2,336 active cases.
Today’s figure is the country’s all-time high. Yesterday, the Health Ministry logged 293 cases, and 317 cases the day before.
Dr Noor Hisham also said 57 people had been discharged from treatment, bringing the total number of recoveries to 10,340 or 80.7 percent.
No new deaths had been reported.
Meanwhile, religious affairs minister Zulkifli confirmed that he is Covid-19 positive.
“To all Malaysians, I am now undergoing treatment because I am confirmed positive Covid-19 by the Health Ministry.
“I urge people who attended events involving my attendance from September 24 to October 4 to undergo Covid-19 screening immediately,” the minister said on Facebook.
He said despite testing positive; he was in good health at the moment.
Reportedly, all ministers and deputies have been instructed to get tested for Covid-19, after attending a meeting at which Zulkifli was present last Saturday.
The October 3 meeting was a special meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) and was chaired by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
It was held to discuss the recent spike in Covid-19 cases, which began in early September and increased into the triple digits in recent days following the Sabah state elections on September 26.
Dr Noor Hisham has confirmed that all those at the same meeting underwent Covid-19 screening today and have been issued home quarantine orders as well as surveillance wristbands.
Among those present in the meeting were Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob; Senior Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof; Senior Minister of Education Radzi Jidin; Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba and related ministers.
Also present were Dr Noor Hisham himself, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador and Chief of Defence Force General Tan Sri Affendi Buang.
It is understood that Zulkifli had participated in campaigning in Sabah during the recently-concluded state election.
Upon his return, he attended the launch of the Bakul Rezeki Khaira PPZ project at PPR Pantai Ria on Sept 26; a briefing on the Endowment Bill (Sept 28); the 2020 Nusantara Syariah Judicial and Legal Conference (Sept 28); and a briefing on the Maulidur Rasul national level celebration on Sept 28.
He also attended Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia’s top management meeting (Oct 2) and an event at UiTM Shah Alam on Oct 3.
Dr Noor Hisham called on the public to remain calm and not to speculate further as the public will be always be informed of the latest developments through the ministry’s official statement or the ministry’s portal at http://covid-19.moh.gov.my/.