KUALA LUMPUR, April 9 — Malaysia reported a spike in Covid-19 cases today, registering 1,854 new infections, Health director-general Tan Sri Noor Hisham Abdullah announced.

Sarawak recorded the most number of cases at 555, followed by Selangor with 403 cases, Penang with 176 cases, Sabah with 139 cases, the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur with 135 cases and Johor with 103 cases.

Five deaths were also recorded today, with three of the deaths reported in Sarawak, and one each in Sabah and Kuala Lumpur

Dr Noor Hisham said 1,247 Covid-19 patients have recovered today while 169 are currently receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Units (ICU) with 79 requiring ventilators.

"Today, Sarawak reported the highest daily number of new cases at 555 cases (29.9 per cent). Of these, a total of 417 cases (75.1 per cent) were from clusters and Covid-19 close contact screenings.

"The increase in cases in Sarawak is due to the increase in clusters among the community, including longhouses. Factors contributing to the increase in cases were crowded events and social activities such as funerals, weddings, and other celebratory events. Today alone, Sarawak reported two new community clusters, namely the Sungai Gemuan Cluster and the Disso Cluster,” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham also announced that the ministry recorded seven new Covid-19 clusters in the last 24 hours, with 1,100 clusters having ended to date.

He said there are 342 active clusters at the moment.

Of the seven, four are workplace clusters, with three others being community clusters.

The workplace clusters are the Sungai Kluang Cluster (Penang), Jalan Ismail Sultan Cluster (Johor), Batu Lima Jalan Sibuga Cluster (Sabah), Taman Bukit Pantai Cluster (Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor).

The community clusters are the Sungai Gemuan and Disso Clusters in Sarawak, and the Sim-Sim Cluster in Sabah.