MALAYSIA yesterday reported the lowest number of new Covid-19 deaths in nine months, at five, including three dead on arrival cases.

At 31,957 deaths so far, the coronavirus toll nonetheless inched towards the 32,000 mark.

Deaths were reported in Kelantan, Malacca, Pahang, Penang, and Selangor. The deaths were counted based on a seven-day average. 

Until yesterday, Malaysia had averaged 16 deaths per day in the past one month, compared to the seven-day average of 11.

There have been 759 Covid-19 deaths so far this year.

A total of 1,174 Covid-19 deaths were reported in December, 1,612 in November, 2,704 in October, and 9,678 in September. 

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry yesterday also reported a much lower number of new infections – 1,367 although the number of active cases rose 16.6% from the previous week.

Last week there were 44,087 active cases compared to 51,397 yesterday. 

According to the CovidNow website, the vaccine booster shots take-up rate continue to hold steady with 95,670 shots administered yesterday. 

Malaysia has administered 63.3 million doses for more than 25.7 million people.

The population is 78.7% fully vaccinated and 36.2% boosted. – January 30, 2022.