71 still warded for Covid-19 as more discharged
Almost 98% of Covid-19 patients have recovered, as the health ministry records five more new cases.
PUTRAJAYA: Five new Covid-19 cases were reported by the health ministry today, bringing the total number of cases to 8,668, with 71 active cases.
Three of the new infections were imported cases while two were local transmissions.
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 11 patients have recovered, bringing the total number of patients discharged so far to 8,476, or 97.8% of the total number of cases.
Two patients are being treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) with both requiring respiratory assistance.
No new Covid-19 related deaths were reported, with the death toll remaining at 121.
The three imported cases comprised two Malaysians and one permanent resident who returned from New Zealand, the UK and Indonesia.
The local cases were a Malaysian family member of a positive case and a migrant restaurant worker who was detected in pre-work screening.
Noor Hisham said 414 individuals are still undergoing home quarantine, with 5,390 given a home release order after testing negative during their second screening.
He thanked returning Malaysians for complying with the home quarantine order, and pointed out that the spike in cases in Victoria, Australia was due to a breach of SOPs by returning citizens at quarantine centres.
He said the Sri Petaling mosque cluster, which contributed to 3,375 cases in total, has only one active patient currently.
The success in curbing a further spread of the virus in this cluster was due to the cooperation between the health ministry and other agencies in tracing participants and close contacts.
“The cooperation from those from the Tablighi Jama’at religious group was also good. They were willing to come forward to be tested,” he said.
The gathering at the Sri Petaling mosque from Feb 27 to March 1 had about 16,000 participants and had become the biggest Covid-19 cluster in the country.
Noor Hisham said only three patients were still under treatment at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) quarantine centre, comprising one Malaysian and two foreigners.
He said the six individuals who showed symptoms during the Chini by-election have tested negative for Covid-19 so far, although they have been isolated and are still being investigated.
He reminded Malaysians to comply with SOPs to successfully break the chain of infection of the virus, adding that other countries saw a new wave in cases after compliance dropped.
The low number of local cases shows that the virus’ infectivity is diminishing, thanks to the SOPs, he said.
“Social compliance, social responsibility and discipline are equally important for us to ensure that we break the chain of transmission even though we don’t have a vaccine,” he said.
CLICK HERE FOR OUR LIVE UPDATE OF THE COVID-19 SITUATION IN MALAYSIA
Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram
Fake or not? Check our quick fake news buster here.