KUALA LUMPUR (March 16): New Covid-19 cases in Malaysia dropped further to 1,063 today, bringing the country's cumulative coronavirus infections to 326,034.

This is the fifth consecutive day of steady decline for Malaysia, from the 1,647 cases it logged on March 11. This is also the 11th straight day that new confirmed infections stayed below the 2,000 level.

However, another five deaths were reported, according to health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham, which raised the pandemic's death toll in Malaysia to 1,218, up 58.18% from 770 as of Jan 1 .

Three of the new fatalities were reported in Sarawak, while one each was found in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. The deceased – all Malaysians – were aged between 69 and 84 years.

Selangor reported 323 cases today, followed by Sarawak with 183 cases and Penang (175), according to Dr Noor Hisham.

Of the new cases today, 1,059 were local transmissions involving 814 Malaysians and 245 foreigners, while four were imported cases.

Meanwhile, another 1,365 Covid-19 patients have been discharged. This lifted the recovery tally from the virus here to 309,612 or 94.96% of total infections.

This led active cases, which carry transmission risks, to fall to 15,204 – the lowest since Dec 19 last year (15,294), as recoveries outpaced new infections.

The ministry also announced that another five new Covid-19 clusters have been identified. Three are linked to community infections, while two are workplace clusters.

The three community infection clusters are: the Jalan Kampung Hilir cluster in Sibu, Sarawak with 35 infections; the Nanga Bulo cluster in Julau, Sarawak (34); and the Banggol Chicha cluster in Pasir Mas, Kota Bharu and Tumpat in Kelantan (17).

The two remainder clusters were workplace clusters, namely the Jalan Sanyan cluster in Sibu, Sarawak with (19), and the Jalan Taiping cluster which spans Kepong, Cheras and Titiwangsa in Kuala Lumpur (eight).

The country's total clusters now stand at 1,255, of which 827 have ended.