COVID: 1,683 new cases, three deaths reported Sunday - Health DG

KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 -- The number of daily COVID-19 positive cases in the country remained below 2,000 for the second straight day, with 1,683 cases reported today, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

A total of 2,506 recoveries were also recorded while there were three fatalities due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 1,169.

He said the latest developments took the cumulative case count to 313,460, total recoveries to 291,958 and active cases to 20,333.

"The new cases today involved 1,673 local transmissions and 10 imported cases. A total of 174 cases are being treated in the intensive care units, with 81 patients requiring ventilator support,” he tweeted.

Selangor recorded the highest number of cases, with 746, followed by Sarawak (201 cases), Penang (172), Johor (158), Kuala Lumpur (125) and Sabah (99).

Negeri Sembilan and Perak recorded 48 cases each, Perlis (24), Kedah (15), Kelantan (12), Pahang (12), Terengganu (10), Labuan (eight), Melaka (three) and Putrajaya (two).

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said in his statement that the three fatalities today involved Malaysians, a man and two women, aged between 78 and 85, and all had chronic illnesses.

He also announced that eight new clusters - five involving workplaces, two detention centres and one community transmission - were detected today, taking the total active clusters to 1,199, with 472 still active.

The five workplace-linked clusters were detected in Selangor, namely Kemuning Enam and Jalan Sungai Selangor; Industri Inanam in Sabah; Jalan Industri Tiga Pontian in Johor; and Jalan Satu construction site in Kuala Lumpur.

"The detention centre clusters were in Jalan Awang (Sarawak) and DTI Persiaran Wawasan (Perlis), while the new cluster involved a community in Kiba, Sarawak,” he said, adding that 727 clusters had ended, including 14 today.

-- BERNAMA