KUALA LUMPUR (April 19): New Covid-19 cases in the country dropped slightly to 2,078, from 2,195 yesterday, with Sarawak accounting for 589 cases.

Selangor reported 457 cases, followed by Kelantan with 290, Kuala Lumpur with 153, Sabah with 125, and Johor with 115.

All but 13 of the latest infections were locally transmitted, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement.

Eight Covid-19-related deaths were reported in the 24 hours as of noon today — three in Sarawak, two each in Selangor and Sabah, and one in Kuala Lumpur.

A total of 1,402 new recoveries were reported, bringing total recoveries to 355,224, or 94.2% of all cases.

The number of active cases — which carry transmission risks — stood at 20,522. These included 228 patients in intensive care, of which 93 required respiratory help.

The health ministry identified 14 new infection clusters, with six from education centres, four from community clusters, three from workplaces, and one from a religious centre.

The education centre clusters are Tangok (Kelantan), Pulai Chondong (Kelantan), Jalan Tagasan (Sabah), Jalan Medan Aliff (Johor), Jalan Weng (Kedah) and one from a school/educational institution in Jalan Hospital (Kelantan).

The community clusters are Sungai Duaan (Sarawak), Sungai Passin (Sarawak), Sungai Selitut (Sarawak) and Jalan Bandar Universiti (Perak).

The workplace clusters are Jalan Cahaya Baru (Johor), Cyber Park (Johor) and Jalan Sulah 16 (Selangor).

The sole religious centre cluster is Bayan Cenderawasih in Kedah.

To date, the ministry has identified 1,534 Covid-19 clusters, of which 1,194 have been declared ended, leaving 340 active clusters.

The clusters that reported the highest numbers of Covid-19 cases today were Sungai Duan (62 cases), Kampung Domis (55) and Jalan Sulah 16 (42).