Covid-19: 16pct drop in deaths last week

 

Malaysia has recorded a 27.9 percent increase in the number of new Covid-19 cases for the 24th epidemiological week (ME 24), from June 12 to 18, to 14,195 cases compared with 11,096 cases reported in the previous week (ME 23).

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said, however, the number of deaths in ME 24 showed a 16 percent drop, with 21 cases compared to 25 cases in the previous week, bringing the cumulative number of fatalities due to Covif-19 to 35,732.

He said the average daily active cases for ME 24 recorded a 9.3 percent increase, namely at 24,053 cases compared with the previous week, while the cumulative number of Covid-19 cases in the country currently stood at 4,538,922.

“The average infectivity rate (Rt value) showed a 12.5 percent increase at 1.08, compared with 0.96 reported in the previous week,” he said in a statement today.

He said the number of recovered cases in ME 24 also dropped by 2.6 percent (10,806 cases to 10,524 cases) compared with ME 23, bringing the cumulative recoveries to 4,476,829.

Meanwhile, Noor Hisham said there was no significant change in the number of Covid-19 patients admitted to hospitals and Covid-19 Quarantine and Treatment Centres (PKRCs) per 100,000 population for ME 24 compared to the previous ME.

“However, the number of Covid-19 patient admission to public hospitals per 100,000 population has increased by 4 percent. The number of cases requiring breathing assistance also increased by 33 percent.

“Overall, the bed occupancy rate at PKRCs dropped by 1 percent and non-critical bed occupancy increased by 1 percent while the use of intensive care unit beds rose by 2 percent,” he said.

Noor Hisham said Covid-19 positive cases monitored by the Covid-19 Assessment Centres (CAC) nationwide showed an increase with patient arrivals at CAC increasing by 22.1 percent and the number of new Covid-19 cases undergoing home monitoring up by 37.6 percent.

The number of Covid-19 cases referred by CAC to PKRC or hospitals has increased by 11.4 percent, he said.

- Bernama