Covid-19 (Dec 21): 2,018 new cases, more in Johor than in Sabah

COVID-19 | The Health Ministry today reported 2,018 new Covid-19 cases and one death. 

Two-thirds of all new cases were from the Klang Valley alone. Johor reported the second most number of cases, mostly from existing clusters, followed by Sabah. 

Of the 1,204 new cases reported in Selangor, slightly over half were attributed to two workplace clusters - Sungai Putus and Pekapuri. According to the Selangor Health Department, 18 new cases were detected from those who reported symptoms.

Leading indicators:

• Active cases:  16,496 ↑ (933 more than the previous day, new record)
• Patients in ICU: 109 ↓ (7 less than the previous day)
• Intubated patients:  55 ↓ (2 less than the previous day)
• Deaths: 1 

[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.]

Sabah reported another death today, bringing the cumulative Covid-19 death toll for the state to 252 or 57.53 of the national total (438). 

The victim is a non-citizen, aged 50, who passed away at the Tuaran Hospital. The victim has no known medical problems.

According to Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, the country's 63 laboratories had a maximum RT-PCR capacity of 59,555 yesterday. 

He said 21,433 tests were processed yesterday or 36 percent of capacity. 

The Health Ministry also reported 201 active Covid-19 clusters, of which 44 have new cases.

The cluster with the most cases was the aforementioned Sungai Putus cluster (504), which involved a workplace in the Klang district of Selangor.

The cluster with the second-most new cases is the Tembok Gajah cluster (234) - a detention centre cluster - followed by the Pekapuri cluster (202).

The Pekapuri cluster is a workplace cluster involving the Gombak district in Selangor and has 202 cases reported today.

The Batu Besar cluster is a workplace cluster involving the Klang district in Selangor and has 59 cases so far.

The Tower cluster is a workplace cluster spanning multiple districts across the Klang Valley and the Temerloh district in Pahang. As of today, 1,154 people have been screened of which 20 have tested positive.

The Tapak Bina Pelangi cluster is a construction site cluster involving the Kepong district in Kuala Lumpur where 23 have tested positive.

The Wawasan cluster involved the Petaling district in Selangor, where the index case was diagnosed on Dec 17 after reporting symptoms. So far, six cases have been attributed to this cluster.

The Delima cluster involves the Titiwangsa district in Kuala Lumpur as well as the Gombak and Hulu Langat districts in Selangor. The index case was diagnosed on Dec 14 after reporting symptoms. So far, nine cases have been attributed to this cluster.

The J Bandar cluster involved Labuan, where the index case was identified at the workplace screening on Dec 16. So far, 25 cases have been attributed to this cluster.

The May Indah cluster involved multiple districts across Penang, where the index cases were detected through workplace screenings. So far, 27 cases have been attributed to this cluster.