A TOTAL of 562 people were hospitalised with Covid-19 infection yesterday, of which 342 cases were in categories 1 and 2, while 220 were in categories 3, 4 and 5, the Health Ministry said today.

Its director-general, Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, said Selangor had the highest number of new admissions at 147, followed by Penang (57), Perak (53) and Johor (51).‘Other states and territories reporting new hospitalisations were Kedah (30), Kuala Lumpur (44), Putrajaya (13), Negri Sembilan (23), Malacca (12), Pahang (27), Terengganu and Kelantan (21 each), Sabah (17), Sarawak (42) and Labuan (1).

He added that 585 patients were discharged from hospitals yesterday.

Of the 12,380 new infections logged yesterday, Noor Hisham said that 12,295  (99.31%) of the cases were asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic (categories of 1 and 2).

The remaining 85 cases were in the serious categories of 3, 4 and 5.

Noor Hisham said of the 85 serious cases, 24 had either not been vaccinated or completed their vaccinations.

He said 33 others had received two doses of vaccine but had not taken their booster shot, while the remaining 28 had their booster jabs.

The health director-general said 57 cases involved people above the age of 60, and 49 of them had comorbidities.

On intensive care unit (ICU) utilisation related to Covid-19, only Kuala Lumpur and Selangor were at or exceeded the 50% mark.

Kuala Lumpur topped the list with 60% usage, while Selangor was at 50%.

Meanwhile, Noor Hisham said that nearly 18% of ventilators nationwide were utilised.

On bed take-up rate for Covid-19 cases, he said of the 12,063 beds available for non-critical cases, 3,692 (31%) were occupied.

Of the 880 beds in ICU, 253 (29%) were occupied while 478 (5%) of the 9,676 beds in low-risk quarantine centres were in use. – April 4, 2022.