ACTIVE Covid-19 cases in Malaysia are now above 70,000 following the country’s new grim record of 8,290 new infections today.

Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said there are now 72,823 active cases in the country.

That is the number of patients currently under treatment, whether at hospitals or in isolation at home for those with milder symptoms.

However, severe cases are also on the rise, and admissions to intensive care units (ICU) admissions are now at an all-time high, with 808 cases.

Of these, 403 require respiratory support.

The country also reported 61 deaths, which raised the death toll to 2,552.

Only two of today’s cases were imported while the remaining stemmed from local transmissions.

On recoveries, Noor Hisham said 4,814 people had recuperated from the coronavirus. With this, the total number of recoveries now stood at 474,139.

Of the 61 deaths, the oldest was a 92-year-old man who died at the Tumpat Hospital in Kelantan.

He had a history of chronic illness including diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease and heart disease.

The youngest fatality was a 27-year-old woman who was brought in dead (BID) to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

There were two more BID cases, both of whom were senior citizens with morbidity.

Selangor saw the highest number of deaths with 18 cases, followed by Negri Sembilan with eight cases.

Other states which recorded deaths today were Kuala Lumpur (7), Kedah (5), Johor (4) and Sarawak (4).

Malacca and Perak recorded three deaths each while Penang, Kelantan, Labuan, and Terengganu reported two cases each.

Sabah reported one death. – May 28, 2021.