KUALA LUMPUR (July 24): Malaysia's new Covid-19 cases jumped to 21 during the 24-hour period ending noon today as three new clusters were detected by the Ministry of Health.
The number of new cases rose from nine yesterday, and is the highest since July 17 when 18 cases were reported.
Active cases rose further to 161, the highest since July 1 when the number stood at 144. It has been above the 100-mark for six days now.
Of the 21 new cases, 16 were local transmissions while five were imported cases, said Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in a statement.
Of the locally transmitted cases, 13 involved Malaysians including in the new clusters of PUI Ramnad in Kuala Lumpur (two cases), PUI Al Khobar in Selangor (one), and Elsa in Pahang (one).
Noor Hisham said the three locally transmitted cases involving non-citizens were found in the Elsa cluster (two) and the Kluang old folk's home cluster in Johor (one).
The five imported cases recorded today involved three Malaysians and two non-citizens who were married to Malaysian citizens or allowed to enter the country to work.
"The five imported cases were from [those who returned from] Singapore (one), Australia (one), the Philippines (one), Pakistan (one), and Qatar (one)," said Noor Hisham.
The number of cumulative cases in the country now stands at 8,861. Five patients are being treated in intensive care units, with two requiring ventilator support.
As of noon today, three patients were discharged, bringing the total number of discharged patients to 8,577. The gives Malaysia a recovery rate of 96.8%.
No deaths from Covid-19 have been reported over the past five days, maintaining the death toll in the country at 123.
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