COVID-19 claimed 199 lives in the past 24 hours, the highest number of fatalities in a single day since the start of the pandemic.

The highest number of deaths previously was 153, less than a week ago on July 18.

Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the cumulative number of deaths now stands at 7,440.

Malaysia had been reporting triple-digit deaths for eight consecutive days from July 12-19, but the figure dropped to 93 yesterday, offering a glimmer of hope for Malaysians. 

However, the record number today proved otherwise. 

In the past 10 days, from July 12 to today, the country recorded a staggering 1,282 fatalities, which works out to an average of 128 deaths per day. 

Elaborating on the deaths, Noor Hisham said 84 deaths were reported in Selangor, 57 in Kuala Lumpur, 16 in Malacca and 12 in Kedah. 

Other states to report fatalities were Negri Sembilan (7), Johor and Pahang (6 each), Terengganu (3), Penang, Perak and Kelantan (2 each), Sabah and Sarawak (1 each). 

A sobering 33 cases were pronounced dead-on-arrival (DOA) – 21 from Selangor, 10 from Kuala Lumpur, and one each from Malacca and Kelantan.

Meanwhile, the active caseload also rose to a new high of 137,587 after the country posted 11,985 new infections to 7,902 recoveries as of noon today. 

Noor Hisham said 97.6% of the new cases reported today were between Categories 1 and 3, while only 2.4% of the cases were from a combination of Categories 4 and 5.

On the breakdown, the director-general of health said that 5,850 cases were under Category 1 (asymptomatic), 5,847 cases under Category 2 (mild symptoms), 178 cases under Category 3 (pneumonia), 45 cases under Category 4 (pneumonia and require oxygen support) and 65 cases under Category 5 (those in critical condition and in need of respiratory assistance through ventilation). 

The number of patients in intensive care units and those requiring respiratory support also showed no signs of falling as the figures increased to 927 and 459 respectively.

Malaysia is just shy of some 50,000 cases from hitting the 1 million overall case count. 

If the current trend continues, the country could hit the seven-digit figure in the next four days. – July 21, 2021.