Malaysia ends the year with a daily Covid-19 record of 2,525 infections in the past 24 hours, just five days after the previous peak.
Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today said 23,598 people are being treated for Covid-19, while the national tally is now 113,010.
Most of the cases reported today were in Selangor with 1,205 infections, followed by Sabah with 299.
Of the new cases reported today, 2,512 were local and 13 imported.
Noor Hisham said 1,481 people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the number of recoveries to 88,941.
“Today is the last day of 2020, (and) Malaysia recorded its highest daily cases of 2,525 cases since the pandemic hit our country,” Noor Hisham said.
Prison and detention clusters contributed to 304 of the new cases.
Meanwhile, 131 patients are in intensive care, of whom 60 need respiratory support.
Eight deaths were reported today, raising the national death toll to 471. The deaths reported were all Malaysians.
Three were from Selangor involving two women and one man. One of the women, aged 62, and the man (61) suffered from co-morbidities, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney failure and stroke. The other woman (78) also had rheumatoid arthritis.
Another two deaths were from Johor, involving a 79-year-old man who suffered from diabetes, high blood pressure, heart condition and prostate cancer, and a 69-year-old man with high blood pressure and stroke.
A 58-year-old woman from Kelantan, a 39-year-old man in Negeri Sembilan and a 71-year-old man from Kedah also died due to complications arising from co-morbidities.
Health authorities also reported five clusters of infection today.
In a note to conclude his statement, Noor Hisham urged the public to continue adhering to health protocols outlined by the ministry.