Covid-19 (Jan 4): 1,741 new cases, death toll crosses 500

COVID-19 | The Health Ministry today reported 1,741 new Covid-19 cases with the bulk of them in Selangor, Sabah, Johor and Kuala Lumpur.

Today also saw the death toll from the pandemic cross the 500 mark.

On the flip side, Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said a total of 1,010 Covid-19 patients have recovered.

However, this is still lower than the new number of new cases, pushing the total active cases up and straining the capacity in public hospitals.

To date, Malaysia recorded 120,818 cumulative Covid-19 cases and 98,228 cumulative recoveries.

Leading indicators:

Active cases: 22,089 ↑ (724 more than the previous day)

Patients in ICU: 122 ↓ (Two fewer from the previous day)

Intubated patients: 53 ↑ (Two more than the previous day)

Deaths: 7 ↓ (4 less than the previous day) 

The seven latest fatalities put the death toll at 501. Details of the deaths are as follow:

Patient 72,926 (Death 495): 65-year-old Malaysian man. Died at Tawau Hospital. Had a history of diabetes, high blood pressure, dyslipidemia ad heart disease.

Patient 90,554 (Death 496): 67-year-old Malaysian man. Died at Hospital, Enche' Besar Hajjah Khalsom, Kluang. Had a history of high blood pressure.

Patient 106846 (Death 497): 83-year-old Malaysian woman. Died at Lahad Datu Hospital. Had a history of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and chronic kidney disease.

Patient 108,319 (Death 498): 45-year-old Malaysian man. Died at Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan. Had a history of liver disease and retroviral disease.

Patient 108,646 (Death 499): 50-year-old Malaysian woman. Died at Hospital Keningau. No reported pre-existing conditions.

Patient 118,341 (Death 500): 68-year-old Malaysian woman. Died at Hospital Ampang. Had a history of diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease and heart disease.

Patient 118,722 (Death 501): 60-year-old Malaysian woman. Died at Hospital Segamat.  Had a history of diabetes and high blood pressure.

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

Selangor (687)
Existing clusters: 158
New clusters: 109 (Jalan Duyong cluster, Pasar Jalan Sentosa cluster)
Close contacts: 274
Imported: 2
Others screenings: 144

Sabah (303)
Existing clusters: 6
Close contacts: 220
Other screenings: 77

Johor (295)
Existing clusters: 174
Close contacts: 74
Other screenings: 37

Kuala Lumpur (150)
Existing clusters: 17
New clusters: 10 (Jalan Nakhoda cluster)
Imported: 5
Other screenings; 55

Negeri Sembilan (56)
Existing clusters: 10
Close contacts: 40
Other screenings: 55

Penang (55)
Existing clusters: 33
Close contacts: 13
Other screenings: 9

Kelantan (50)
Existing clusters: 25
Close contacts: 24
Other screenings: 1

Kedah (45)
Existing clusters: 29
Close contacts: 11
Other screenings: 5

Perak (34)
Existing clusters: 17
New cluster: 1 (Ehsan Ibol cluster)
Close contacts: 13
Other screenings: 3

Malacca (34)
New clusters: 10 (Telok Mas cluster)
Close contacts: 24

Pahang (12)
Existing clusters: 5
Close contacts: 3
Other screenings: 4

Sarawak (8)
Existing clusters: 4
Imported: 1
Other screenings: 3

Putrajaya (6)
Close contacts: 2
Other screenings: 4

Terengganu (4)
Close contacts: 1
Other screenings: 3

Labuan (1)
Existing clusters: 1

Perlis (1)
Other screenings: 1

Noor Hisham said to date, 231 out of 537 Covid-19 clusters are still active.

This includes the emergence of five new clusters. On the flip side, six clusters were declared resolved.

They resolved clusters are Batu Sembilan, Saguking, Monsoon, Buntar, Sky Coklat and Gading.

The five new clusters are in Selangor, KL, Perak and Malacca.

The Jalan Duyong cluster involves the district of Klang in Selangor. 

It was discovered on Dec 31, 2020 following a targeted workplace screening.  To date, 110 out of the 536 people screened have Covid-19.

The Pasar Jalan Sentosa cluster involves the Kuala Langat district in Selangor.

The index case (Patient 118,272) was found with the virus on Jan 3 after exhibiting symptoms.

To date, 61 out of 293 people screened in the symptoms have come down with the virus.

The Jalan Nakhoda cluster involves the districts of Titiwangsa and Cheras in KL.

The first case was discovered on Dec 28, 2020 through a targeted workplace screening.

To date, 14 out of the 99 people screened tested positive for Covid-19.

The Ehsan Ibol cluster involves the districts of Hulu Perak, Larut, Matang and Selama in Perak as well as Gombak in Selangor.

The index case (Patient 111,642) was discovered on Jan 31 after showing symptoms. 22 out of the 40 people tested in this cluster to date have the virus.

The Telok Mas cluster involves a detention centre in Melaka Tengah, Malacca.

The index cases involve Patient 114,991 and Patient 114,993 who tested positive on Jan 1 after showing symptoms.

To date, 13 out of 33 people tested are down with Covid-19.