THE number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care units (ICU) and those requiring respiratory support dropped to its lowest in almost a month today, director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.

However, the national Covid-19 caseload increased, with 22,642 new cases against 20,798 recoveries.

There were also 265 deaths reported today.

Noor Hisham said there were 1,003 patients in ICU wards, with 490 of them requiring a ventilator.

ICU figures have not been at this level since July 25, when Noor Hisham said there were 970 patients in ICUs nationwide.

Meanwhile, the number of patients on a ventilator is at its lowest level since July 24 (248).

Noor Hisham said that the active Covid-19 cases in the country rose to another high of 264,292 today.

On Monday, the Covid-19 active caseload dropped for the first time in 58 days, when Malaysia reported more recoveries than new infections, bringing the figure to 260,700.

The overall death toll in the country now stands at 14,818. This is the 31st consecutive day that the country has reported deaths in triple digits.

Of the victims today, 219 were Malaysians and 46 were foreign nationals.

Selangor reported the highest deaths by state with 105 fatalities.

Besides Selangor, other states to record deaths today were Johor (39), Sabah (23), Kedah (19), Kuala Lumpur and Penang (18 each), Negri Sembilan (12), Perak (nine), Sarawak (six), Kelantan and Pahang (five each), Malacca (four) and Terengganu (two).

Of the total, 69 victims were pronounced dead-on-arrival, 51 of which were Malaysians.

A total of 199 of 265 victims today had underlying medical conditions. – August 25, 2021.