Covid-19 (Sept 14): 413 reported deaths, here's when they actually died

 

COVID-19 | The Health Ministry's CovidNow tracker reported a total of 413 fatalities yesterday (Sept 13), bringing the cumulative death toll to 21,124. This is the second-highest on record for reported deaths in a single day.

Of these, 176 (42.6 percent) of the deceased died before being brought to a hospital, while the remainder were in-hospital deaths.

Just over half the deaths had occurred in the last seven days. The actual number of deaths yesterday was four, but this figure may change as more Covid-19 deaths are identified in the future and added to the tally.

For now, the average number of deaths in the last seven days (according to the actual date of death) is 104 and still trending downwards.

The Health Ministry is changing how Covid-19 deaths are reported and had said this seven-day average figure gives a better indication of Malaysia’s current Covid-19 situation than before.

Previously, Malaysia reported Covid-19 deaths based on the date the death is certified to have been caused by Covid-19, rather than the new practice of essentially ‘backdating’ it to the actual date of death.

By comparing detailed statistics uploaded by the Health Ministry this morning and the data from a day earlier, Malaysiakini determined that just over half the deaths actually occurred within the last seven days. The remaining half happened earlier.

In addition, the death toll on certain dates was found to have been reduced. For example, the Health Ministry’s data yesterday showed there were 15 ‘actual deaths’ on Feb 7, but this was amended this morning to 12 deaths.

The reason for such reductions is unclear, but the ministry is in midst of overhauling its system for reporting Covid-19 deaths to ensure more timely reporting.

The ongoing clearing of a backlog of deaths is also expected to show a short-term ‘spike’ in reported deaths for this week.

Meanwhile, at the state levels, most of the newly reported deaths are in Selangor (111), including 84 who died before they could be brought to a hospital.

This is followed by Kedah (54), Johor (52), Sabah (39), Kelantan (36), Penang (33), Negeri Sembilan (29), Pahang (15), Malacca (13), Perak (13), Kuala Lumpur (8), Sarawak (5) and Terengganu (5).

A state-by-state breakdown of the deaths, according to the actual date of death, can be found on the ministry’s CovidNow website.

For Penang, the average number of actual deaths remains relatively high for the state, with an incidence of 17 deaths per 100,000 population in the last two weeks. This is currently the highest incidence of Covid-19 deaths in the country.

The state reported an average of 22 actual deaths per day in the last seven days, and it remains to be seen whether the slight reduction over the past two days reflects a delay in reporting deaths or the start of a genuine decline. - Mkini