THE Covid-19 death toll in Malaysia surpassed 35,000 yesterday with the addition of 30 new fatalities, five of which were declared dead on arrival (DOA). 

The CovidNow website showed 35,013 people had died of the virus in the country. It said 7,386 of them were DOA. 

Malaysia reported 17,476 new infections yesterday, when its borders were open to international travellers for the first time after almost two years of closure due to Covid-19. 

Daily cases declined for the first time in three days. The number took the overall infections in the country since the onset of the pandemic to 4,219,395.

Selangor, the most populous state, logged 10,623, or 61%, of yesterday’s new cases. Neighbouring Kuala Lumpur came in second with 1,191. 

Other states and territories which saw new cases were Perak (788), Penang (730), Sarawak (648), Johor (623), Negri Sembilan (588), Kedah (529), Pahang (496), Malacca (439), Sabah (270), Terengganu (229), Kelantan (178), Labuan (56), Putrajaya (56) and Perlis (32). 

Johor saw the most number of virus fatalities yesterday with eight, followed by Negri Sembilan with four.

Kedah and Malacca reported three deaths each, Perak, Perlis, Sarawak (two each), Kelantan, Pahang, Penang, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Labuan (one each). 

Of the five DOA cases, two were reported in Kedah, and one each in Johor, Malacca and Sarawak. 

The fatality rate stood at 0.3% and the cumulative fatality rate at 0.8%. – April 2, 2022.