MALAYSIA today reported a record-breaking 9,180 news Covid-19 cases, with a bulk of the cases coming from Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

The previous record high came on May 29, when 9,020 cases were reported.

Selangor reported 4,400 cases in the past 24 hours while Kuala Lumpur had 1,271 cases.

The high number of cases in the Klang Valley is attributed to the aggressive testing being done in areas under the enhanced movement-control order (EMCO) in these two states.

These two states were followed by Negeri Sembilan with 899 cases, Kedah (417) and Sarawak (406). Perlis reported only one new case of infection.

Malaysia’s caseload currently stands at 817,838 cases, with 277,393 cumulative cases coming from Selangor.

Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said yesterday that the spike in the number of daily infections is due to targeted mass screening being conducted in EMCO areas.

A total of 34 localities in Selangor and 14 in Kuala Lumpur have been placed under the EMCO for two weeks until July 14.

Noor Hisham said 10% of the population in those areas have been tested, with focus given to high-risk groups.

Of the 47,811 cases reported from July 1 to July 7, 42.02% was contributed by Selangor, while Kuala Lumpur contributed to 13.01% of cases.

The Klang Valley now accounts for more than 60% of Covid-19 infections in the country.

The infectivity rate (Rt) is now at 1.09, up from 1.07 from the previous day. The last time the Rt was below 1.0 was on June 27. – July 9, 2021.