KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 — An additional 144 Covid-19 related deaths were reported by the Health Ministry today with the nationwide fatality rate now at 0.79 per cent.

Today’s tally brings the local Covid-19 death toll to 7,718, with 699 deaths reported since Monday alone.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 66 deaths were reported in Selangor today, as well as 16 in Kuala Lumpur and 15 in Johor.

Thirteen deaths were reported in Melaka, 10 in Negri Sembilan, six in Kedah, three in Sarawak, two fatalities each in Perak and Penang, and one death reported in Sabah, Terengganu and Labuan respectively.

Additionally, Dr Noor Hisham said there are 939 patients currently warded in Intensive Care Units (ICU) across the country, with 456 of them requiring breathing assistance.

Today’s deaths involved 132 Malaysian victims and 12 deceased who were non-locals, and when broken down by gender, there were 84 male and 60 female victims who died of Covid-19 over the last day.

From today’s tally, 119 deaths involved patients suffering from existing ailments and co-morbidities, while eight fatalities were of patients brought in dead who later tested positive for Covid-19.