KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 — The death rate from Covid-19 in the country took a turn for the worse as Malaysia crossed over the 100 deaths in a day for the first time, recording 126 deaths today.

This is a major jump from the 98 deaths recorded from Covid-19 on May 29.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the number of patients being treated in intensive care units (ICU) have also gone up, with 878 patients being treated, breaking the previous record of 851 on May 31.

"Of the 878 Covid-19 patients being treated in the ICU, 441 of them need ventilators to help them breathe,” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said that of the 126 deaths today, only three were from foreigners while the remaining deaths were locals.

"All but 21 of the deaths today had prior history of severe medical conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke.

"The youngest victim today was a 26-year-old local woman who had no history of any medical conditions. She died at Labuan Hospital,” he said.