KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — The Ministry of Health (MoH) logged 6,210 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours.

The latest numbers represented an increase of 694 cases compared to the new infections recorded yesterday.

This brings the total number of Covid-19 cases in the country, since the start of the pandemic, to 2,413,592.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah also disclosed that that only 116 or 1.9 per cent of the cases reported today were in categories 3, 4 and 5 that required hospitalisation, while the remaining 98.1 per cent were in categories 1 and 2.

"There are currently 677 patients being treated in intensive care units (ICU), of which 114 are suspected, probable or under investigation for Covid-19.

"Out of these 677, 319 need ventilators to help them breathe including 205 who are confirmed to be positive for Covid-19,” he said.

He added that six new clusters were also detected over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of active clusters in the country to 656.

"Of the six new clusters, three are found spreading within communities, two related to workplaces, and one involving a high-risk group,” he said.

He said that Malaysia’s rate of infection currently stands at 0.86, with Negri Sembilan and Kuala Lumpur being the states with the highest infectivity rate, which stands at 1.00.

Labuan was the only state or federal territory in Malaysia to have a 0 infectivity rate.