Covid-19 (Dec 8): 1,012 new cases, S'gor worst hit, 4 deaths

COVID-19 | The Health Ministry today reported 1,012 new cases, mostly in the state of Selangor, and four deaths. 

Nearly half (49 percent) of Covid-19 patients under intensive care require ventilator support. 

The number of patients requiring ventilator support has reached the highest levels over the past two months. 

Leading indicators:

• Active cases: 10,862 ↓ (742 less than the previous day)

• Patients in ICU: 126 ↓ (3 less than the previous day)

• Intubated patients: 62 ↑ (7 more than previous day)

• Deaths: 2

[For 14-day cumulative new cases count at mukim (locality) level, click here. For details of new cases by clusters, click here. There may be delays to updates by the respective state health departments.]

In the Klang Valley regions of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, 57.7 percent of new cases are of known origin - from clusters, close contacts to Covid-19 positive indivuals and returned from abroad. 

However, 218 cases, or 42.3 percent of new cases in this region were categorised under "other screenings",  an umbrella term for screenings on people with symptoms, pre-surgery screening, workplace screenings and pre-departure screenings, among others.

This region accounted for half of the new cases followed by Sabah (26.8 percent) and Johor (10.7 percent). 

Four deaths were reported in Sabah. The cumulative Covid-19 death toll for Sabah has reached 224 or 57.7 percent of the national total (388).

Details of the victims are as follows:

Patient 25,285 - Malaysian female, 64, passed away at the Tawau Hospital.

Patient 68,327 - foreign female, 90, dead on arrival at the Tuaran Hospital.

Patient 69,413 - Malaysian female, 92, dead on arrival at the Lahad Datu Hospital.

Patient 70,589 - Malaysian female, 33, passed away at the Tawau Hospital.

Of the 1,012 new cases today, seven were imported. A breakdown of the new cases are as follows:

Selangor (417)
Existing clusters: 98
New cluster (Seruling): 17
Close contact: 116
Imported: 1
Other screenings: 185

Sabah (271)
Existing clusters: 70
Close contact: 121
Other screenings: 80

Johor (108)
Existing clusters: 63
Close contact: 22
Other screenings: 23

Kuala Lumpur (98)
Existing clusters: 48
New cluster (Tapak Bina Darul): 3
Close contact: 12
Imported: 5
Other screenings: 33

Pahang (33)
Existing clusters: 31
Other screenings: 2

Perak (29)
Existing clusters: 28
Close contact: 1

Negeri Sembilan (23)
Existing clusters: 20
Close contact: 1
Other screenings: 2

Penang (18)
Existing clusters: 6
Close contact: 5
Other screenings: 7

Kedah (10)
Existing clusters: 8
Other screenings: 2

Sarawak (2 )
Existing clusters: 1
Imported: 1

Kelantan (2)
Other screenings: 2

Putrajaya (1)
Existing cluster: 1

Labuan, Malacca, Terengganu and Perlis did not report any new cases.

The Health Ministry reported that there were 185 active Covid-19 clusters of which 41 reported new cases.

The largest number of new cases was from the Teratai cluster (78), which is linked to Top Glove's worker dormitories. This cluster has spread among the community.

The second-largest number of new cases were from the Batu Tujuh cluster (52) in Johor followed by the Ria-30 cluster (33) which originated in Tuaran, Sabah.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry today classified two new clusters. The Seruling cluster currently has 109 cases, involving the Klang, Hulu Selangor and Petaling districts in Selangor. The index cases were detected through workplace screening beginning Dec 4.

The Tapak Bina Darul cluster involved the Titiwangsa, Cheras and Lembah Pantai districts in Kuala Lumpur, along with the Petaling, Sepang, Kuala Langat and Klang districts in Selangor, as well as the Seremban district in Negeri Sembilan.

The index cases were detected through targeted screening at a construction site. Fourteen cases have been detected so far.