KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 — The number of new Covid-19 cases in Malaysia has continued its downward trend with 1,404 infections reported nationwide in the last 24 hours, compared to 1,697 the day before.

This is after a sharp rise in cases, reaching a two-week high of 3,410 on May 12, following the rolling back of restrictions and Hari Raya celebrations.

According to the Health Ministry’s CovidNow site, total active cases have dropped by 370 to 30,509.

The hospitalisation rate has also dropped slightly, from 459 to 450.

The number of cases in intensive care units (ICU) has dropped to 36 from 40, while the number of ventilated patients has also decreased to 17 from 22.

Deaths have fallen as well, from five reported deaths the day before to three yesterday.

Malaysia currently has 49 active clusters nationwide, with the top 37 clusters in the education category.

Selangor (615), Kuala Lumpur (219), Penang (123) and Negri Sembilan (112) reported the highest number of cases, followed by Perak (95), Johor (63) and Kedah (59).

Melaka, Putrajaya, Sarawak, Sabah and Pahang reported 34, 32, 29, 25 and 22 cases respectively.

They were followed by Kelantan (14) and Terengganu (13).

Perlis (five) and Labuan (six) were the only states to record single-digit cases.

More than a quarter of all cases (25.9 per cent) in the past week occurred in the 18-29 age bracket, followed by 23.8 per cent from the 30-39 age group.

Kuala Lumpur has the highest increase in the seven-day average at 45 per cent and Negri Sembilan has the lowest at -29 per cent.

35,623 lives have been lost to Covid-19 in Malaysia since the beginning of the pandemic.