MALAYSIA’S death toll from Covid-19 nudged 14,000 today with 223 people succumbing to the virus, reported the Ministry of Health.

Of the deaths reported in the past 24 hours, 35 cases were declared dead on arrival. The new numbers bring the actual death toll to 13,936.

Selangor reported 77 deaths, the highest number by state, followed by Sabah (27), Kedah (23), Penang (20), Kuala Lumpur and Malacca (18), Johor (14), Negri Sembilan (11), Perak (seven), Pahang (five), Sarawak (two) and Labuan (one).

Meanwhile, there are 1,035 Covid-19 patients in intensive care units (ICU) nationwide, of which 513 are on respiratory support.

Director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah also asked vaccinated people to not to take advantage of the relaxation of Covid-19 standard operating procedures.

“If you don’t use these privileges wisely, we may have to go through another ‘battle’ with Covid-19,” he said.

Vaccinated people are now allowed to dine at restaurants and eateries in states subject to phase 1 of the national recovery programme, with a slight change in the rules which came into force yesterday.

“Keep in mind, there are those who have not been vaccinated. They are susceptible to the virus. Therefore, we must keep the infection rate low in order to prevent the spread of new variants,” he wrote.

He also said people testing positive or in close contact with an infected person must go into quarantine to protect others.

Despite government statistics on the success of the immunisation programme, The number of daily infections continued to surpass the number of recoveries for the 57th day, today, according to the Health Ministry.

There were 18,576 recoveries compared to 22,262 new infections today. Malaysia has logged 1,535,286 cases since the pandemic started, while 1,260,470 people have recovered from Covid-19.

The number of active cases in the country now stands at 260,880.

Of the new cases reported today, 21,793 (97.9%) are category 1 and 2 cases, people who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms.

Only 469 people (2.1%) were in categories 3, 4 and 5. Category 3 patients are symptomatic with a lung infection; category 4 patients have a lung infection and require oxygen. Category 5 patients have multiple organ complications and require critical care.

Meanwhile, 18,374 (82.5%) of today’s cases have not been vaccinated or have not completed their course.

The nationwide infection rate is currently 1.04. At R1.38, Perlis is the most infectious state, followed by Sarawak (1.31) and Sabah (1.23). – August 21, 2021.