KUALA LUMPUR (May 18): Malaysia recorded a new record high of 47 Covid-19 deaths today, surpassing the peak of 45 fatalities registered yesterday, raising the death toll from the coronavirus nationwide to 1,994. This comes as the country reported 4,865 new infections, up from 4,446 detected yesterday.
The number of Covid-19 deaths has increased at a faster pace recently. There have been 488 deaths reported so far this month compared with 234 in April.
According to a statement by Health Ministry director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today, 18 of the latest fatalities were recorded in Selangor, five each in Sarawak and Pulau Pinang, four each in Johor, Kuala Lumpur and Kelantan, three in Perak, two in Pahang, and one each in Kedah and Negeri Sembilan.
Meanwhile, Malaysia's cumulative Covid-19 infections have now reached 479,421, following the 4,865 new additions.
Selangor continued to post the highest number of new daily infections with 1,743 today, followed by Sarawak (512), Kuala Lumpur (477), Johor (407) and Kelantan (406).
Daily recoveries, on the other hand, remained below the number of new infections at 3,497, bringing total cumulative recoveries to 432,600, representing a recovery rate of 90.2%.
Active cases – which now stand at 44,827, up from 43,506 yesterday as new infections come in higher than new recoveries – remained above the 40,000-mark for the seventh consecutive day since it breached that level last Wednesday. A total of 531 cases are being treated in the intensive care units, of whom 277 patients are on ventilators.
Amid the high number of active cases, Dr Noor Hisham noted that the Low Risk Quarantine and Treatment Centres (PKRCs) nationwide have almost reached maximum capacity.
He also acknowledged that there have been more and more Covid-19 cases requiring treatment in Intensive Care Units, and requiring respiratory support in recent weeks.
"This dramatic increase in cases has put tremendous pressure on the national healthcare system and it is our shared responsibility to break the chain of Covid-19 infections. The people of Malaysia are a very important front line at this point and are expected to continue to stay at home, if there are no important matters outside. We have no choice anymore, we must take care of ourselves!" he stressed.