Covid-19 cases increase by 29% to 22,400

 

Yesterday, only 50 people received the first booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine while 120 people received the second booster dose.

KUALA LUMPUR: The number of Covid-19 cases for the Dec 17-22 week increased to 22,413 compared to 17,307 in the previous week.

Health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said this was a 29.5% increase.

“During the same period, the number of Covid-19 deaths was reported to have dropped by 23.1%, from 26 to 20,” he said in a statement today.

Dzulkefly said that overall, the number of Covid-19 patients admitted to health facilities (non-critical beds) increased to 1.5%. Usage of beds in the intensive care unit rose to 3.6%.

He said yesterday, only 50 people received the first booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine while 120 people received the second booster dose.

He said cumulatively as of yesterday, only 16,347,130 Malaysians (50.1%) had received the first booster dose and only 828,686 (2.5%) had received the second booster dose.

Dzulkefly said the ministry will continue to monitor the Covid-19 situation and take immediate action if necessary.

He advised members of the public to ensure their personal hygiene to avoid contracting infectious diseases, including Covid-19.

Dengue cases go up 89.3%

Meanwhile, the cumulative total of dengue cases this year till Dec 16 recorded a rise of 89.3%, from 62,060 cases in 2022 to 117,505 cases.

Health director-general Dr Radzi Abu Hassan said 92 deaths due to dengue fever complications were recorded this year, compared to 49 deaths last year.

“In the week from Dec 10 to 16, dengue cases rose by 6.5%, or 192 cases, with 3,140 cases compared to 2,948 cases the previous week.

“The number of hotspots recorded also rose to 124 localities compared to 101 in the previous week.”

He said 95 of the hotspots were in Selangor, 13 in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, seven in Perak, four in Sabah, two in Negeri Sembilan and one each in Kedah, Penang and Sarawak.

Regarding chikungunya, he said one case was recorded, bringing the total to 193 cases.

He also said 3,733 blood samples and 411 urine samples were screened for zika, all of which produced negative results. - FMT