GRIM. That one word describes the Covid-19 situation in Malaysia today with figures showing a spike in the number of new cases, deaths and number of admissions into the intensive care units (ICU) in hospitals nationwide.

The country recorded 107 fatalities in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 5,108, said director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

The last time Malaysia reported deaths in three-digits was on June 15 with 101 fatalities. The country’s highest fatality rate in a single day was on June 2 when 126 people succumbed to the disease.

The number of patients treated in the ICU also increased to 905 as of noon today from 899 reported yesterday with the number of patients on respiratory assistance at 455, an increase from 451 yesterday.

Noor Hisham said active cases in the country also continued to rise to 62,844 as Malaysia reported more new infections than recoveries for the past four consecutive days.

There were 6,437 new cases today, taking the national caseload to 745,703.

On the 107 deaths today, Noor Hisham said that 43 fatalities were reported in Selangor, Negri Sembilan (16), Kuala Lumpur (11), Kedah and Malacca (7 each), Johor (6), Sabah, Kelantan and Labuan (4 each), Sarawak and Pahang (2 each) and Terengganu (1). 

Of the total deaths today, 14 were declared dead on arrival (DOA).

The oldest victim today was a male from Sarawak, aged 92, who was one of the DOA cases, while the youngest victim was a male, aged 34 with diabetes. – June 29, 2021.