THE Health Ministry logged 847 Covid-19 hospital admissions yesterday, a drop in figures for the second straight day.

The latest number means Malaysia has now reported fewer than 1,000 daily admissions for 22 days in a row.

The CovidNow website showed the bed utilisation rate declined to 62% yesterday, from 62.5% the day before. Coronavirus patients accounted for 28% of bed usage.

The hospital admission rate indicates the severity of the virus. Hospital utilisation includes bed occupancy as well as the number of patients in intensive care units and on ventilators.

Despite the reduction in overall hospitalisation, the Klang Valley saw numbers spiking yesterday, recording 301 admissions compared to 286 on Friday. 

Selangor logged 261 virus hospitalisations, while there 20 in both Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

Bed utilisation in the Klang Valley, including for non-Covid cases, stood at 57.8%.

Other states that reported new admissions were Johor (155), Sabah (76), Sarawak (64), Kelantan (63), Negri Sembilan (42), Pahang (40), Kedah (28), Perak (24), Penang (19), Terengganu (19), Malacca (9), Perlis (6) and Labuan (1). 

At 81.1%, Malacca had the highest overall bed utilisation by region, state or territory. 

Meanwhile, Malaysia logged 3,386 new coronavirus cases yesterday. 

The Klang Valley comprising Selangor (786), Kuala Lumpur (191) and Putrajaya (20) accounted for 997 or 29% of yesterday’s new infections.

Other states and territories reporting new cases were Johor (426), Kelantan (350), Pahang (268), Sabah (264), Kedah (254), Penang (206), Malacca (182), Perak (164), Terengganu (130), Negri Sembilan (97), Sarawak (24), Perlis (22) and Labuan (2).

Ventilator utilisation was at 36.9% while intensive care unit wards were 53.3% occupied, of which 26.0% were due to coronavirus.

The number of active cases dropped to 41,034. Of which, 33,896 patients were in home quarantine, 3,357 in low-risk quarantine centres and 3,508 in hospital.

There were 273 people in intensive care, 159 of whom were on a ventilator. – January 2, 2022.