Covid-19 (Oct 24): Malaysia breaks 4-digit ceiling with 1,228 new cases

COVID-19 | Malaysia has broken the four-digit ceiling with 1,228 news cases today, including 889 cases in Sabah, and 95 in the Klang Valley.

Of the new cases, 502 were from prison clusters.

The new cases also included 11 imported cases.

The surge in cases was tempered by 671 recoveries, including 449 people discharged from Sabah.

Leading indicators in brief:

• Active cases = 8,966 ↑ (18th straight day a new record set)
• Patients in intensive care = 92 ↑ (two more than previous day)
• Intubated patients = 31 ↓ (two less than previous day)
• Deaths = 7

Of the deaths reported, six were from Sabah and one from Perak.

The death toll in Sabah for October alone is 77.

The new deaths in Sabah involved six Malaysians, the youngest of whom was 47, while the oldest was 88. The Perakian who died was 63 years old.

Meanwhile, Negeri Sembilan saw a spike in infections with 96 new cases, including 54 from a new cluster.

A breakdown of the new cases by state is as follows:

Sabah (889)

- 434 from the Kepayan prison cluster.

- 66 from other clusters (eight cases from new Mesra and Megah clusters).

- 253 from close contact tracing.

- 136 from other Covid-19 screenings.

Negeri Sembilan (96)

- 42 from existing clusters.

- 54 from the new Kaya cluster.

Selangor (76)

- 27 from clusters, including one from the new Bah Kayu cluster.

Kedah (76)

- 74 from existing clusters.

- two cases from screening Sabah returnees.

Penang (23)

- 19 from existing clusters.

- three from close contact tracing.

- one from other Covid-19 screening.

Labuan (21)

- 20 from existing clusters.

- one from close contact tracing.

Perak (10)

- five from the existing clusters.

- five from close contact tracing.

Sarawak (8)

- three from the new Baki cluster.

- three from close contact tracing.

- two from other Covid-19 screenings.

Kuala Lumpur (8)

- four from close contact tracing.

- two from the existing clusters.

- two from other Covid-19 screenings.

Johor (7)

- five from the new Kempas cluster.

- one from close contact tracing.

- one from other Covid-19 screening.

Malacca (3)

- two from close contact tracing

- one from other Covid-19 screening.

Of the new clusters of note, the Kaya cluster is in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan and Putrajaya.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said these involved workers of a cargo and post company working out of KLIA.

They have screened 63 people thus far of whom 55 are positive, six tested negative, and two more are awaiting results.