Malaysia's total COVID-19 caseload passes 1 million mark

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's total COVID-19 cases surpassed 1 million infections on Sunday (Jul 25), after the country's health ministry reported a record 17,045 new cases.

The country's total number of infections is now 1,013,438. 

The new cases topped Saturday's figure of 15,902, which was then the highest number of daily infections since the pandemic started.

The Klang Valley again accounted for more than half of the new infections with 8,500 in Selangor and 2,045 in Kuala Lumpur. 

There were also 1,216 new cases in Kedah and 950 new infections in Johor. 

Malaysia also reported six imported COVID-19 cases on Sunday.

READ: Malaysia may allow dining-in, more social activities for people fully vaccinated against COVID-19

In a tweet, the health ministry reported Kelantan's first COVID-19 case with the Delta variant and urged residents to be "more vigilant". 

In a Facebook post on Sunday, health director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah said a hospital in Penang had been converted into "a hybrid COVID-19 hospital" to cope with a rising number of cases requiring hospitalisation. 

The Bukit Mertajam Hospital is equipped with 72 beds with pipe-in oxygen for COVID-19 patients. The hospital can set aside 120 beds should demand increase, said Dr Noor Hisham. 

He added that non-COVID-19 patients would be diverted to other nearby hospitals "when the need arises".

The number of critically ill patients has risen over the past week and there are currently 970 cases in the intensive care unit, with 501 requiring respiratory support.

The health ministry on Sunday announced 92 more fatalities, taking the death toll to 7,994.

There were 9,683 new recovered cases, taking the total recovery to 844,541. 

Malaysia currently has a total of 160,903 active or infectious cases. 

On Saturday, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said that the country may ease some restrictions for people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, including allowing them to dine in at restaurants.

Fully vaccinated residents may also be able to take part in more social activities and sports. Inter-state travel could be allowed for spouses who live and work apart from each other.

“We will finalise (the details) and I will announce it as a total package,” Muhyiddin told reporters.

“I do hope that this (relaxation) will give room or space, breathing space, for the people to live a slightly better life.”

A decision would be made within the next few days, he said.

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