MALAYSIA recorded two new deaths from Covid-19 as of noon today, including the youngest victim so far, who died at the age of 23, said Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

The Sarawak Disaster Relief Committee released a press statement earlier this afternoon, confirming that the latest victim was a Sarawakian woman who was a student at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) in Kota Samarahan.

The patient experienced breathing difficulty on March 30 and was warded at the intensive care unit (ICU) at the Sarawak General Hospital on the same day.

She died at 9.42am today.

Her parents have also been infected with Covid-19.

“Today we have the youngest person, who was 23-years-old, to succumb during ventilation,” said Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, adding that the patient has thyroid disease and came late for treatment.

“Most of the cases, about 88%, are in Category 1 or Category 2 but this patient came in at Category 4 and she needed oxygenation and ventilation.”

Noor Hisham added that the patient was a 5th generation case linked to the Kuching church cluster and that she had not attended the religious gathering earlier this month.

The other death involved a 59-year-old man who also suffered from auto-immune disorder and other chronic illnesses. He died at 5am at Hospital Malacca.

He was from the Sri Petaling tabligh cluster and was warded on March 31.

The total number of deaths now stands at 67.

Over the last 24 hours, there have been 109 new infections, driving the number of cases to 4,228, Noor Hisham told a press conference in Putrajaya today.

This number is the second lowest since the movement-control order (MCO) was enforced. The lowest was 106 on March 24.

The nation also saw more people recovering in the last 24 hours compared to the new number of cases.

A total of 121 patients have recovered and were discharged from hospital, bringing the number of recoveries to 1,608.

Noor Hisham said 72 patients are in intensive care, with 43 of them on respirators.

He also said the ministry has now increased the number of laboratories for Covid-19 testing to 43.

“Initially we only had the Institute for Medical Research (IMR) involved in Covid-19 testing.

“Now, we have increased our capacity to have 43 labs from the government sector as well as universities and the private sector.

“Our maximum capacity to conduct tests and confirm Covid-19 is 11,546.”

A state-by-state breakdown of the figures, meanwhile, showed Selangor continuing to lead the nation in new infections, with 40 new cases since yesterday.

Selangor was followed by Kuala Lumpur and Pahang with 14 new cases each. Negri Sembilan recorded 11 new cases, followed by Sarawak (6) and Terengganu (5).

On the lower end, Perlis, Penang, Sabah and Labuan recorded no new Covid-19 cases, followed by Kedah and Putrajaya, with two new cases each. – April 9, 2020.