KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 — There were 1,116 new Covid-19 cases recorded by the Health Ministry today, bringing the number of active cases in the country to 14,134.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah made the announcement in a statement today, further revealing that five more people died from the disease, which brings the death toll in the country to 1,238.

Meanwhile 1,495 Covid-19 patients were recorded to have recovered in the past 24 hours.

Of today’s new cases, only eight were imported, comprising five Malaysians and three non-Malaysians.

"Selangor reported the highest daily cases today at 403 cases (36.1 per cent),” he said regarding the breakdown of cases based on states and the Federal Territories.

"Of this number, 337 cases (83.6 per cent) are from existing clusters and Covid-19 close contact screenings conducted in the field,” he added.

Selangor was followed by Kuala Lumpur (158 cases), Sarawak (124 cases), Penang (88 cases) and Johor (86 cases).

States and the Federal Territories that recorded cases in the single digits today were Labuan (eight cases), Putrajaya (five cases) and Terengganu (three cases). There were no cases reported in Perlis.

Of those who died today, four were men, and one was a woman. They were aged between 44 and 84, and all but one had a record of chronic illness, including hypertension and heart disease.

Only one of the deceased, a woman, was a non-Malaysian.

Dr Noor Hisham added that there are 156 Covid-19 patients currently warded in intensive care units (ICUs), with 60 of them needing breathing aid.

Since the beginning of the pandemic last year, a total of 334,156 Covid-19 cases have been recorded in Malaysia. Of them, 318,784 — or 95.4 per cent — have recovered.

The death rate is at 0.37 per cent.

Today, 10 new Covid-19 clusters were also recorded, including three in Johor, and another two in Kuala Lumpur. There was also one each in Labuan, Selangor, Pahang, Negri Sembilan and Sarawak.

Of them, the Jalan Usahawan Construction Site cluster in Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur recorded the most cases, with 73.