A TOTAL of 920 people were hospitalised with Covid-19 yesterday, the Health Ministry said.

The bed take-up rate for Covid-19 cases increased from 28.3% to 29.1% yesterday, according to the CovidNow website.

Meanwhile, the overall hospital utilisation rate in the country also rose from 64.2% to 67.4%, following the 3,543 new Covid-19 infections reported yesterday.

There are currently 39,779 active Covid-19 cases nationwide, of which 32,773 (82.4%) were in home quarantine. There were 3,259 (8.2%) in national quarantine centres and another 3,494 (8.8%) in hospitals.

The number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care units dropped slightly from 257 to 253, with 130 patients requiring a ventilator.

Overall ventilator utilisation was at 37.4%, with intensive care unit wards 56.3% occupied, of which 26.1% were occupied with Covid-19 patients.

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

There were 294 admissions in the Klang Valley, the most by state, territory or region. Most of the cases were registered in Selangor (237), followed by Kuala Lumpur (39) and Putrajaya (18).

Bed utilisation in the Klang Valley, including for non-Covid cases, rose to 58.9%.

There were also new admissions in Johor (190), Sabah (102), Kelantan (69), Negri Sembilan (53), Kedah (40), Pahang (35), Sarawak (33), Perak (31), Penang (27), Terengganu (21), Malacca (13), Perlis (6) and Labuan (6).

Malacca’s hospital utilisation rate was at 82.6%, the highest by any state or territory.

Of the country’s 3,543 new Covid-19 infections yesterday, 1,186 cases were in the Klang Valley. The bulk of the cases were in Selangor with 919 registered, while Kuala Lumpur had 229 cases and Putrajaya 38.

There were also new cases in Johor (410), Kelantan (296), Pahang (260), Sabah (245), Penang (222), Kedah (217), Malacca (168), Perak (166), Negri Sembilan (160), Terengganu (153), Perlis (21), Labuan (20) and Sarawak (19). – January 7, 2022.