A TOTAL of 750 patients were hospitalised for Covid-19 yesterday, a reduction in admission for the second consecutive day despite a rise in daily cases, Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said. 

Of total admissions, 428 or 57.1% of the cases were in the mild categories of 1 and 2, while 322 cases (42.9%) were in the serious categories of 3, 4 and 5. 

Noor Hisham said patients in Category 2 accounted for the most admissions at 353, followed by Category 4 (195), Category 3 (99), Category 1 (79) and Category 5 (28).

The Health DG said categories 1 and 2 patients would be admitted if they are deemed high-risk and in need of observation.

Selangor, the most populous state, reported almost 60% of the 18,560 cases yesterday, and had the highest number of admissions at 123. 

Johor was the only other state to report hospitalisation in triple-digits at 103. 

Other states and territories reporting new admissions are Perak (74), Kedah (67), Sarawak (65), Penang (50), Negri Sembilan (48), Kelantan (43), Kuala Lumpur (42), Pahang (34), Terengganu (34), Sabah (21), Putrajaya (20), Malacca (16), Perlis (5) and Labuan (5).

Noor Hisham said 721 patients were discharged from hospitals yesterday.

He said that of the 18,560 new infections reported yesterday, 18,435 (99.33%) of the cases were in the asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic categories of 1 and 2.

Only 125 cases (0.67%) cases were in the more serious categories of 3, 4 and 5. 

Noor Hisham said of the 125 serious cases, 34 had either not been vaccinated or completed their vaccinations. 

He said 50 of them had received two doses of vaccine but had not taken their booster shots, while the remaining 41 had their booster jabs.

He said 67 of the cases involved those above the age of 60 and 66 of them have comorbidities. 

On intensive care unit (ICU) utilisation related to Covid-19, he said three states or territories have breached the 50% mark.  

Kuala Lumpur topped the list with 57% usage, followed by Perlis (55%) and Selangor (50%).

On the bed take-up rate for Covid-19 cases, Noor Hisham said of the 12,201 beds available for non-critical cases, 4,524 (37%) were occupied. 

Of the 882 beds in ICU, 267 (30%) were occupied while 646 (7%) of the 9,796 beds in low-risk quarantine centres were in use. – April 1, 2022.