Covid-19 (Sept 15): 463 reported deaths, death tally now at 21,587

 

The Health Ministry's CovidNow tracker reported a total of 463 fatalities yesterday (Sept 14), bringing the cumulative death toll to 21,587.

Of these, 108 (23.3 percent) of the deceased died before being brought to a hospital, while the remainder were in-hospital deaths.

The actual number of deaths yesterday was three, but this figure will 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 has 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 occurred earlier.

Anomaly

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 (255), including 84 who died before they could be brought to a hospital.

This is followed by Kedah (54), Johor (38), Perak (24), Penang (23), Kelantan (19), Sabah (16), Kuala Lumpur (12), Sarawak (7), Pahang (6), Malacca (4), Terengganu (3), and Negeri Sembilan (2).

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

Yesterday evening it was reported that there were 15,669 new Covid-19 cases. - Mkini