MALAYSIA yesterday saw 1,213 people admitted to hospital with Covid-19, a slight reduction from 1,284 admissions the day before, the Health Ministry said. 

The CovidNow website showed hospital bed utilisation yesterday declined marginally to 69.8% from  from 69.9% the previous day, with coronavirus admission accounting for 38.8% of the take-up rate. 

The hospital admission rate indicates the severity of the coronavirus outbreak. Hospital utilisation rate includes bed usage as well as the number of patients in intensive care and on ventilators.

Klang Valley reported 385 admissions yesterday, rising for 344 the day before. The bed utilisation in the region stood at 62.5%. 

Selangor reported the bulk of the admissions with 332, followed by Kuala Lumpur (35) and Putrajaya (18). 

Other states and territories reporting new admissions were Johor with 192, Sabah (114), Kelantan (93), Sarawak (91), Terengganu (71), Perak (66), Negri Sembilan (54), Kedah (41), Pahang (38), Malacca (30), Penang (23), Perlis (13), Labuan (2). 

Malacca, which went to the polls last week, logged the highest bed utilisation rate at 90%. 

Meanwhile, the country yesterday reported 5,755 new virus cases, the highest in four days.

The Klang Valley accounted for 1,948 cases or 34% of the cases. Selangor reported 1,511 cases, Kuala Lumpur (400) and Putrajaya (37). 

Other states and territories reporting new cases were Sabah (622), Kelantan (590), Johor (486), Pahang (376), Kedah (358), Penang (270), Terengganu (231), Perak (219), Negri Sembilan (202), Sarawak (192), Malacca (191), Perlis (43) and Labuan (27). 

Ventilator utilisation was at 37.3% and ICU beds, 62.9%, with Covid-19 cases accounting for 44.5%.

Active infections rose to 69,261 after Malaysia recorded more new cases than recoveries in the past two days. 

Among the active cases, 55,705 are in home quarantine, 7,584 in low-risk quarantine centres, and 5,466 in hospital.

There are 506 patients in intensive care units, 270 of them requiring a ventilator. – November 25, 2021.