KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 — Malaysia’s new Covid-19 cases continued on a downward trend, with 22,030 infections reported in the last 24 hours.

The latest numbers represent a decrease of 505 cases compared to new infections recorded yesterday.

With this latest figure, the total number of cases recorded since the start of the pandemic in the country now stands at 3,845,601.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that out of the 22,030 cases today, 394 cases were imported, involving 369 Malaysians and 25 foreigners.

“The remaining 21,636 cases were reported locally, involving 20,894 Malaysians and 742 foreigners,” he said in a statement this morning.

Dr Noor Hisham said 388 patients are currently being treated in intensive care units (ICU) nationwide, with 169 confirmed to have Covid-19 while the remaining 219 either suspected, probable or under investigation for the disease.

Of that, he said that 215 of them needed ventilator assistance, of which 97 are Covid-19 positive patients.

He also added that 92 people died from the deadly disease yesterday, with 33 of them declared dead before arriving at hospitals for treatment.

The current death toll since the start of the pandemic stands at 33,872.

He also said that 33,872 patients have recovered from Covid-19 in the last 24 hour, bringing the total cumulative amount of recovery in the country to 3,502,760.

He said that of the 22,030 cases today, only 226 are in Categories 3, 4 and 5 — which require hospitalisation, while the remaining patients are in Categories 1 and 2.

Dr Noor Hisham said Covid-19 cases at ICUs in six states have reached or exceeded 50 per cent capacity, which were ― Kuala Lumpur at 77 per cent, Kelantan at 75 per cent, Johor at 66 per cent, Selangor at 62 per cent, Melaka at 59 per cent and Penang at 51 per cent.

Meanwhile, there are 12 states with over 50 per cent of non-ICU beds used for Covid-19 patients, them being Putrajaya (107 per cent), Selangor (103 per cent) Kuala Lumpur (90 per cent), Perak (86 per cent), Melaka (84 per cent), Sarawak (81 per cent), Perlis (76 per cent), Terengganu (73 per cent), Kelantan (71 per cent), Johor (58 per cent), Penang (56 per cent) and Pahang (55 per cent).

Dr Noor Hisham also said two new clusters were reported yesterday, bringing the total active clusters to 377.

Malaysia’s Covid-19 infectivity rate (R-nought or R0) is now at 0.96.