KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 — The Health Ministry reported 27,179 new Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours, an increase from 25,099 cases the day before.

This brings the cumulative infections to 3,273,958 from the time Covid-19 arrived in the country in 2020, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement today.

The latest number of people who recovered stood at 19,037, raising the cumulative recovered cases to 2,974,441.

Deaths reported yesterday showed the same rate at 43, with 13 brought-in-dead.

As of today, a total 32,433 people have died of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.

Hospitalisation

Dr Noor Hisham also disclosed that only 172 or 0.63 per cent of cases reported today were in Categories 3, 4 and 5 that required hospitalisation. While the rest are having mild symptoms.

"There are currently 286 patients being treated in intensive care units (ICU), of which 187 are suspected, probable or under investigation for Covid-19.

"Out of these 286, 180 need ventilators to help them breathe, including 58 who are confirmed as Covid-19 positive,” he said.

In the statement, Dr Noor Hisham said four states are currently using more than 50 per cent of their ICU bed capacity.

They are: Kelantan (78 per cent), Johor (69 per cent), Kuala Lumpur (62 per cent), and Melaka (54 per cent).

There are 11 states with over 50 per cent of non-ICU beds used for Covid-19 patients. They are: Perlis (114 per cent), Kelantan (108 per cent), Selangor (101 per cent), Perak (95 per cent), Putrajaya (74 per cent), Johor and Kuala Lumpur (72 per cent each), Sabah (70 per cent), Pahang (68 per cent), Terengganu (54 per cent), Penang (51 per cent).

As for Covid-19 quarantine centres, four states currently have more than 50 per cent of their beds utilised. They are: Perak (72 per cent), Selangor (70 per cent), Melaka (55 per cent), and Sabah (51 per cent).

Dr Noor Hisham said the number of Covid-19 patients in need of respiratory aid has increased to 180 people.

Overall, he said the current percentage of ventilator use stands at 37 per cent for both patients with Covid-19 and those without.

Clusters

He also mentioned that nine Covid-19 clusters were detected by the Health Ministry in the past 24 hours ― which made 505 clusters that are currently active.