KUALA LUMPUR (April 22): New Covid-19 infections jumped to 2,875 today, from 2,340 yesterday, raising the country's total cases to 384,688, the Health Ministry said.
Kelantan emerged as the state with the highest number of new cases, with a record 662 infections in the 24 hours as of noon.
The spread of infections also worsened in Selangor with 633 new cases, while Sarawak reported 474 and Kuala Lumpur 332.
Seven Covid-19-related deaths were reported during the 24-hour period, bringing Malaysia's coronavirus death toll to 1,407, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement.
Three of the new deaths were reported in Sabah, while two were from Selangor and one each from Sarawak and Kelantan. Among them was a foreign national who died in Sabah.
Dr Noor Hisham said another 2,541 patients recovered from Covid-19 — compared with 1,910 yesterday — which brought total recoveries to date to 361,267, translating into a recovery rate of 93.9%.
With the rise in recoveries, the number of active cases declined to 22,014. Of these, 248 patients are in intensive care units, including 115 on ventilators.
Number of new clusters rises to 13
The Health Ministry identified 13 new Covid-19 clusters, including five workplace clusters, three Education Ministry clusters, and a religious centre cluster. The remaining four are community clusters.
The workplace clusters are Jalan Semtec (Selangor), Jalan Industri Mekanikal (Johor), Jalan Skin (Johor), Kota Sawit (Sabah) and Jalan Salahuddin (Kuala Lumpur).
The Education Ministry clusters are Jalan Shah Banting (Selangor), Mengkebang (Kelantan) and Dinamik (Kedah), while the religious centre cluster is Kampung Bangkahulu (Negeri Sembilan).
The community clusters are Jalan Raji (Selangor), Sungai Banus (Sarawak), Jalan Pokok Mangga (Melaka) and Taman Changkat (Perak).
The total number of active clusters in the country currently is 352.