KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 — The Health Ministry announced another 47 deaths from Covid-19 today, the highest single-day loss in the country since the start of the pandemic.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah disclosed on Twitter that 4,865 new Covid-19 cases have also been detected in the country by the Health Ministry in the last 24 hours.

Dr Noor Hisham broke down the number of cases by states, with cases in Selangor rising to 1,743 as compared to yesterday’s 1,650.

A slew of new Covid-19 cases were also reported in several other states, with those being Sarawak (512), Kuala Lumpur (477), Johor (407) and Kelantan (406).

Remaining states recording new Covid-19 cases include Kedah (244), Penang (220), Perak (160), Terengganu (156), Pahang (152), Negri Sembilan (149), Melaka (127), Sabah (95), Putrajaya (nine), Labuan (six) and Perlis (two).

Cumulatively, Malaysia has now lost 1,994 patients to Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic here.

Of the deaths reported today, 18 were recorded in Selangor alone, five each in Sarawak and Penang, four each in Johor, Kuala Lumpur and Kelantan, three in Perak, two in Pahang and one each in Kedah and Negri Sembilan.

Dr Noor Hisham said all but one of the deceased were Malaysians while only two did not have pre-existing health issues.

"Currently, we have 531 Covid-19 patients being treated in intensive care units (ICU), with 277 needing ventilators to help them breathe,” he said.

Full recoveries lagged behind new cases again today, with 3,497 patients discharged, resulting in an increase to active cases to 44,827.

Dr Noor Hisham added that 19 new Covid-19 clusters were detected in the country, bringing the total number of active clusters in the country to 497.