KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 — Covid-19 patients who need intensive care treatment remain at 959 today, a same number that hit a record high yesterday, the Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said.

The number of patients who needed the ventilator also remained high at 451, although it was reduced by 14 patients compared to yesterday’s 465 patients in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Malaysia recorded its highest number of cases at 9,353 new cases today, its most ever in a single day, surpassing yesterday’s 9,180 and 9,020 from May 29.

On July 8, there were 952 patients admitted into ICU, where Dr Noor Hisham reportedly said that hospitals in the national capital Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Labuan have exceeded their maximum limits in treating Covid-19 patients.

He has also on the same day Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Labuan and Negri Sembilan showed an average of more than 37 daily Covid-19 cases per 100,000 and an average of 2.6 per cent increase for the past week.

He warned that the healthcare system in the four states will be paralysed if there is no reduction in the infection rates in the next few days.

Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and a few other states are now into the first week of the enhanced movement control order, or the first phase of the National Recovery Plan.