MALAYSIA reported 778 Covid-19 hospital admissions yesterday, continuing a slow but steady downward trend over the past two months.

The CovidNow website showed a hospital utilisation rate of 63.8%, with 27.2% of beds occupied by Covid-19 patients, down from 27.9%.

Ventilator utilisation also dropped to 34.6% from 35.3%, while intensive care unit (ICU) occupancy was at 54.1%, of which 16.9% were due to Covid-19.

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

There were 247 admissions in the Klang Valley region, of which 174 were in Selangor, 70 in Kuala Lumpur and three in Putrajaya.

Hospital bed utilisation in the Klang Valley, inclusive of non-Covid-19 cases, stood at 57.6%.

Other states and territories that reported new hospitalisations were Johor (215), Kedah (30), Kelantan (54), Malacca (2), Negri Sembilan (39), Pahang (16), Perak (21), Perlis (10), Penang (12), Sabah (85), Sarawak (35), and Terengganu (12).

Kedah and Malacca had the highest hospital bed utilisation rate, both at 79.6%.

Meanwhile, Malaysia yesterday registered 3,214 new infections.

Selangor logged 816 cases, Kuala Lumpur (249), and Putrajaya (32).

Other states and territories reporting new cases were Johor (450), Kedah (395), Kelantan (231), Malacca (80), Negri Sembilan (238), Pahang (184), Perak (120), Perlis (4), Penang (222), Sabah (118), Sarawak (7), Terengganu (66), and Labuan (2).

The active caseload added up to 45,208, of which 37,772 were in home quarantine, 4,528 in low-risk quarantine centres, and 2,762 in hospitals.

There were 146 patients in intensive care, 65 of which were on ventilators. – January 25, 2022.