MALAYSIA reported 23,469 Covid-19 recoveries against 14,954 new infections as of noon today, director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said.

This means the number of recoveries has outpaced new cases for the third straight day.

The total number of recoveries in the country now stands at 1,863,922.

Noor Hisham said of the new cases reported today, 14,711 individuals or 98.4% were in the less severe categories of 1 and 2, displaying no or mild symptoms. 

Only 243 cases or 1.6% were in the more serious stages of infection in categories 3, 4 and 5.  

The health DG added that 1,194 patients were being treated in intensive care units (ICU). Of this total, 882 are confirmed coronavirus cases.

The remaining 312 are suspected cases and cases under investigation. 

He said 665 patients are on ventilators, of which 401 are confirmed Covid-19 cases while the other 264 are suspected or probable cases, and cases under investigation.

Yesterday, figures of patients in the ICU and on ventilator stood at 1,165 and 689  respectively.

Noor Hisham also said 19 new clusters were also traced by the Health Ministry today, contributing 657 cases. 

He said 13 clusters were linked to workplaces (544 cases), four involved community transmissions (58 cases), while there was one cluster each involving a high-risk group (18 cases) and a detention centre (37 cases).

Pahang reported the most clusters with five, followed by Johor with four. 

Other states reporting new clusters are Perak, Penang and Sarawak (two each), Kedah, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Kelantan (one each).

This brings the total number of clusters in the country to 5,282, of which 1,348 are active while 3,934 have ended. – September 19, 2021.