KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 — Malaysia recorded 561 new Covid-19 cases today, the second-highest count since the start of the third wave, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.

Out of the new cases today, 488 cases are from Sabah, while eight other cases were imported. The country also recorded two new fatalities today from the virus.

As of today, Malaysia recorded a total of 15,657 Covid-19 cases, with 4,587 active cases, said Dr Noor Hisham. To date, there has been a total of 157 deaths in the country due to Covid-19.

From the 553 local transmission cases, 11 cases had a history of travelling back from Sabah, taking the number of cases that have a travel history to Sabah since September 20 to 353 cases.

Apart from Sabah, Selangor recorded 25 new cases, Kedah (16), Kuala Lumpur (8), Penang (1), Labuan (5), Perak (1), while Johor, Melaka and Terengganu recorded three new cases respectively.

The fatalities recorded today are both male, age 67 and 63 respectively, with both suffering from various chronic diseases.

Only 90 active cases are being treated in intensive care units, while only 29 required breathing aid, said Dr Noor Hisham.

Today’s new cases were overshadowed by the announcement on October 6, when Dr Noor Hisham stated that Malaysia records 691 new cases, the highest so far since the start of the third wave of infection.