Seven new Covid-19 cases, no Malaysian infected locally for first time since MCO

CORONAVIRUS | Malaysia today recorded seven new Covid-19 cases comprising six imported infections and one local transmission.

The single local transmission involved a foreigner, marking a milestone for the Health Ministry as for the first time, no Malaysian was infected locally since the start of the movement control order (MCO) on March 18.

The sole local transmission was discovered through the screening process imposed by the government before foreign employees can return to work.

Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this brings the total cases to date to 8,336.

He also reported the highest number of Covid-19 recovery in a single day on record, with 281 patients discharged.

This brings the total recoveries to 6,975 people or 83.7 percent of all cases.

No new fatalities were reported today, maintaining the death toll at 117.

The updates are for the last 24 hours up to noon today.

A total of 10,216 Covid-19 swab tests were conducted by government labs yesterday. 

However, private labs have yet to provide the numbers of tests they conducted for yesterday.

Government and private labs combined have the capacity to conduct 34,951 swab tests a day.

Speaking at the Health Ministry's daily briefing in Putrajaya today, Noor Hisham said 1,244 people are still under treatment, of which six are in the intensive care unit (ICU).

From the Covid-19 patients in ICU, one needs the help of a ventilator to breathe.

Noor Hisham attributed the absence of reported local transmission among Malaysians in the last 24 hours to the whole government and society approach.

He said the trend of new cases in recent days is consistent with the projection model by the National Health Institute.

"The Health Ministry would like to congratulate Malaysians on their cooperation with the government for this achievement," he said.

However, he cautioned that it was not time to let our guard down and urged Malaysians to continue to abide by the standard operation procedures (SOPs) to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

He again reiterated for Malaysians to avoid crowded places, confined spaces and close conversations which he referred to as the "3Cs".

He also reminded Malaysians to wash their hands with soap, wear a face mask in public and heed warnings from the Health Ministry, referred to as the "3Ws".

- Mkini