KUALA LUMPUR (July 4): Malaysia reported 6,045 new Covid-19 cases today, according to the Ministry of Health (MOH), down from 6,658 cases the day before.

But the latest figure still marks the sixth consecutive day that new infections stay above the 6,000 level. The new cases were detected from the screening of 80,029 people nationwide in the last 24 hours, representing a positivity rate of 7.55%.

Selangor continued to report the highest number of new daily cases at 2,262, followed by Kuala Lumpur (616), Negeri Sembilan (531) and Johor (500), according to Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

Other states with three-digit new infections included Perak (384), Sarawak (365), Kedah (332), Melaka (290), Sabah (228), Penang (173), and Kelantan (124).

Active cases climbed further to 67,669, as daily recoveries again came in lower than daily infections, at 5,271. The coronavirus recovery rate now stands at 90.6%, with total recoveries at 705,486 out of cumulative infections detected of 778,652.

Meanwhile, there were 63 deaths reported, raising the tally of fatalities linked to the coronavirus to 5,497, said Dr Noor Hisham. Of the latest fatalities, 25 deaths were reported in Selangor, 15 in Negeri Sembilan, 10 in Kuala Lumpur, three each in Johor and Kedah, two in Pulau Pinang and Pahang respectively, and one in Melaka, Terengganu and Sarawak respectively.

There are now 917 patients being treated in intensive care units, of whom 443 need ventilators to breathe.

The MOH also reported 17 new Covid-19 clusters today, of which 11 were from workplaces, five from the community, and one from the high-risk group.

To date, the MOH has identified 2,918 clusters of which 2,049 have been cleared ended, leaving 869 active clusters.