THE number of Covid-19 patients admitted in intensive care unit (ICU) wards dropped to 1,005 from 1,033 yesterday, Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said. 

The number of patients in ICU had been on the rise for the past three days after the country had recorded its lowest numbers in the ICU ward for almost a month on August 27, with 982 patients. 

The last time fewer than 982 patients were in critical care was on July 25, with 970 patients admitted to the ICU.

Malaysia also recorded 282 Covid-19 fatalities in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 16,664. 

Meanwhile, the director-general of health said that there was also a reduction in the number of patients requiring respiratory support today – 464 patients were on ventilator support compared to yesterday’s 476. 

Despite the decrease in ICU occupancy and need for respiratory support, active cases increased today to 267,863, after health authorities reported 20,897 new cases to 18,465 recoveries. 

Active cases dropped to 265,713 yesterday after recoveries outnumbered new cases. 

Elaborating on the deaths today, Noor Hisham said that 238 victims were locals.

He also added that of the deaths today, 98 cases were pronounced dead-on-arrival (DOA), where 63 were Malaysians and 35 were foreigners.

A total of 218 victims today had underlying medical conditions.

As for the states reporting deaths, Selangor recorded a staggering 139 fatalities today, 49% of the entire number of fatalities in the country today.

The other states that recorded deaths were Johor (52), Kuala Lumpur (21), Sabah (15), Penang (12), Kedah (11), Kelantan (nine), Pahang (seven), Malacca (five), Negri Sembilan and Perak (three each), Terengganu (two), Perlis, Sarawak and Putrajaya (one each). – August 31, 2021.