KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 — Malaysia today again saw its daily number of patients who have recovered from Covid-19 exceeding new recorded cases, with 972 recoveries today against 957 new cases, the Health Ministry announced today.

This means that the cumulative total of Covid-19 cases that had been recorded in Malaysia is now 32,505 cases, which includes 22,220 cases that have since recovered and 10,036 cases remaining under treatment.

As of now, the 10,036 patients still being treated for Covid-19 include 97 who are in intensive care units (ICU). Out of the 97 Covid-19 patients currently in the ICU, 27 of them require respiratory support.

No new deaths were reported today for Covid-19 cases, which means the total death toll from the virus remains at 249 cases or 0.8 per cent of the overall number of cases in Malaysia.

Two new Covid-19 clusters were announced today, with one each in Selangor and Penang respectively.

Just yesterday, Malaysia too recorded more recoveries in a day as compared to new cases for the day, with 1,000 recoveries and 659 new cases. That was a new record for Malaysia in terms of the number of daily recovered Covid-19 cases.

The two new clusters

For the new cluster known as Kluster Usaha, it involve the Klang and Petaling districts in Selangor.

Under this cluster, 25 individuals have been screened as of noon today, with 17 testing positive, while five of them have tested negative and three are still awaiting their results.

The index case for Kluster Usaha is Case 30,697 who tested positive on October 30 after displaying symptoms, while close contact screening resulted in the 16 others being tested positive. All 17 have been placed at the Hospital Sungai Buloh.

As for the other new cluster known as Kluster Tembaga, it involves the Timur Laut and Barat Daya districts in Penang.

Under Kluster Tembaga, 69 individuals have been tested as of noon today, with seven cases testing positive, 13 testing negative, and 49 still awaiting test results.

The index case for Kluster Tembaga is the 29,359th case who was identified as Covid-19 positive on October 28 after screening for severe acute respiratory infections (Sari), with the six others detected after screening of the patient’s close contacts. All seven have been admitted to Hospital Pulau Pinang, the Health Ministry said.

Bulk of new cases today in Sabah

Out of the 957 new Covid-19 cases recorded in Malaysia today which were all from local transmissions and did not involve imported cases, 644 of them were recorded in Sabah (67.3 per cent) while 230 cases were recorded in the Klang Valley (24 per cent).

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that these four areas (Sabah, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya) which are still under a conditional movement control order (CMCO) had collectively recorded 874 cases or 91.3 per cent of the new cases today.

"This follows increased case detections at those states following activities in the field including close contract tracing and screening in the enhanced movement control order (EMCO) area at Plaza Hentian, Kajang where 91 new cases were reported today,” he said in a statement.

Dr Noor Hisham also highlighted that 80 cases or 8.36 per cent of the new Covid-19 cases reported today are from temporary detention centres and clusters at prisons, namely Tawau temporary detention centre (54 cases), Seberang Perai prison cluster (14), Kepayan prison cluster (six), Benteng LD cluster (three) and Rumah Merah cluster (three).

In terms of new Covid-19 cases today, the breakdown according to states are Sabah (644 cases with 97 from existing clusters, 401 from close contact screening and 146 from other screenings), followed by Selangor (225 cases including new cluster Kluster Usaha), Penang (23), Labuan (18), Terengganu (15), Sarawak (11), Negri Sembilan (eight), Perak (five), Kuala Lumpur (four), Kedah (one), Melaka (one), Johor (one) and Putrajaya (one).

Bulk of fresh recoveries also in Sabah

In terms of the 972 newly discharged patients today, the majority were also recorded in Sabah (658 cases), followed by Selangor (112), Negri Sembilan (91), Kedah (41), Labuan (27), Penang (24), Perak (10), Melaka (five), Terengganu (two), Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya (collectively one) and Pahang (one).