THE number of new Covid-19 infections in Malaysia hit a new high today of 235 cases, bringing the total to 2,031, said Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah

The youngest person infected with Covid-19 is a 12-day-old baby, while the oldest patient is 83-year-old man, he said. 

At his daily press briefing today, he also announced that four have died in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 23. 

He said 60 of the new Covid-19 cases were linked to the tabligh cluster.

“Sixteen patients were discharged today, bringing number of those who have made a full recovery to 215.

“As of today, 45 patients remain in intensive care, with 32 requiring respiratory assistance,” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said 55%, or 1,117, of Malaysia’s Covid-19 infections can be traced to the tabligh event at Masjid Jamek Sri Petaling earlier this month.

Over half the 23 deaths are also linked to the tabligh cluster, he said.

He added that, of the 16,000 people who attended the five-day event, about 14,500 are Malaysians, with the remainder being foreigners from 25 countries.

Health authorities have so far screened 13,762 of those who took part in the gathering. So far, 5,646 attendees have tested negative, said Dr Noor Hisham.

The Health Ministry said the 20th death was patient 780, a 76-year-old Malaysian man who attended the Sri Petaling tabligh event.

He was admitted to Sultan Ismail Petra Hospital in Kelantan on March 18, and died yesterday at 4.35pm.

The 21st death was patient 1588, a 63-year-old Malaysian man who attended the Sri Petaling tabligh event and was treated at Alor Star’s Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital on Monday. He died today at 4am.

The 22nd death was patient 1797, a 48-year-old Malaysian man who has a history of chronic illness. The patient attended the Sri Petaling tabligh event and was in close contact with another Covid-19 patient who also attended the event. He was admitted to Enche’ Besar Hajjah Khalsom Hospital in Johor where he passed away on Monday at 8.15pm.

The 23rd death was patient 1840, a 62-year-old man from Kajang who suffered from a chronic illness. He was admitted to Raja Perempuan Bainun Hospital in Ipoh on Monday before dying yesterday at 12:37pm.

Health authorities are investigating whether patient 1840 has any links to the tabligh cluster.

Dr Noor Hisham said some deaths took some days to be reported because some patients had other underlying illnesses and that it took some time before medical officers could confirm that the patient was infected with Covid-19. – March 26, 2020.