Malaysia records 201 new Covid-19 deaths, more than half of those in ICU need breathing assistance

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia recorded 201 Covid-19 related fatalities over the last 24 hours, on top of having more than half of those admitted in intensive care units (ICU) currently intubated.

The health ministry said Tuesday’s (Aug 10) figure meant that Malaysia’s cumulative Covid-19 death toll stood at 11,162 after breaching the 11,000 cases mark.

The ministry also revealed that there are 1,096 individuals currently warded in ICU, with 570 of them requiring breathing assistance out of 230,762 active cases to date.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in a later statement said the 201 people who died comprised 163 Malaysians and 38 non-Malaysians — 118 of whom were men and 83 were women. Those with a history of illnesses numbered 152.

Of the 201 fatalities, a total of 34 people or 17 per cent were brought in dead.

A majority of Tuesday’s deaths were reported in Selangor with 87 fatalities while Terengganu recorded the least deaths at two.

Separately, the number of full recoveries recorded on Tuesday at 16,258 also surpassed Monday’s figure of 15,187.

Earlier on Tuesday, Malaysia recorded 19,991 new Covid-19 cases after a continuous decline in daily cases over the past three days.

The nationwide Covid-19 infectivity rate — denoted as R-naught, R0 or Rt — was at 1.06, with Perlis the highest at 1.33 followed by Kelantan at 1.24 and Terengganu at 1.18 with two other states Penang and Sabah tied at 1.16.

All but Kuala Lumpur, Melaka, Selangor, Labuan and Putrajaya were more than that of the nationwide average. MALAY MAIL