KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 24 — The Ministry of Health (MoH) logged 5,666 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours.

The latest numbers represented a decrease of 164 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 2,431,716.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah also disclosed that that only 107 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 601 patients being treated in intensive care units (ICU), of which 79 are suspected, probable or under investigation for Covid-19.

“Out of these 601, 299 need ventilators to help them breathe including 222 who are confirmed to be positive for Covid-19,” he said.

He added that three new clusters were also detected over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of active clusters in the country to 539.

“Of the three new clusters, one each was found spreading within a community, workplace and high-risk group,” he said.

He said that Malaysia’s rate of infection currently stands at 0.87, with Kuala Lumpur being the state with the highest infectivity rate, which stands at 1.00.

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