KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 — The Health Ministry recorded 2,234 new Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours, busting the previous record of 2,188 cases last seen on November 24.

Three more people died from the virus, raising Malaysia’s fatality to 396.

Selangor again leads the country with 1,428 new cases or 63.9 of today’s national record.

Most of the new infections came from 1,200 existing Covid-19 clusters in the west coast state.

"Most of the positive cases in Selangor involve workplace-related clusters, including the Seruling cluster and the Hentian cluster, which each reported 842 cases and 315 cases, respectively.

"The number of cases in Selangor are expected to remain high, after the expansion of the Foreign Workers Screening Programme by the Social Security Organisation and proactive steps taken by employers in the Klang Valley,” Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in his daily Covid-19 briefing

However, the Health Ministry noted there were 39 new clusters that contributed to today’s sharp spike.

In second place is Sabah with 274 cases or 12.3 per cent of the total, followed by Kuala Lumpur with 136 cases.

Dr Noor Hisham said 160 cases were infected due to their connection to temporary detention centres and prisons.

Among these are the Tembok cluster with 104 cases, the Bakti cluster with 45 cases, the Rumah Merah cluster with eight cases, and the PTS Sibuga cluster with three cases.

Of the overall new cases nationwide, only five were infected abroad.

To date, 78,499 people in Malaysia have contracted the coronavirus.

A total of 1,112 patients recovered and were discharged from hospital, raising the cure rate to 66,236 to date.

However, 124 are currently under intensive care and 60 need help with breathing.

All three Covid-19 casualties today were Malaysians.

"The first victim was a 72-year old Malaysian man with a history of diabetes, high-blood pressure, chronic kidney aliment, heart disease and chronic lung ailment in Sabah.

"The second was a 26-year old Malaysian man with a history of asthma and bronchiectasis in Labuan, while the third was a 63-year old Malaysian woman with undisclosed history, also in Sabah,” Dr Noor Hisham said.