More than 17,000 new COVID-19 cases in Malaysia for second straight day, ICU numbers hit another high
People queue for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre in Kuala Lumpur on May 31, 2021. (Photo: AFP/Mohd Rasfan)
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia reported more than 17,000 new COVID-19 cases for the second straight day on Thursday (Jul 29), with the number of critically ill patients also reaching a new high.
The 17,170 new infections - the country’s second highest daily tally to date - comes one day after a record 17,405 cases were announced on Wednesday.
The Klang Valley accounted for about half of the new cases, with 7,163 in Selangor and 2,138 in Kuala Lumpur.
The number of cases in Kedah and Johor remained high with 1,212 and 1,054 respectively. A further 884 were found in Negeri Sembilan and 776 in Sabah.
The health ministry said 49.4 per cent of the new cases were asymptomatic and 48.3 per cent only experiencing mild symptoms.
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Most of the new cases were also not vaccinated, it added.
There were another 174 deaths, of which 28 were brought in dead to hospital. Ninety of the deaths were in the Klang Valley.
The number of patients in the intensive care unit also reached yet another high this week, with 1,043 cases warded. Of these, 531 require respiratory support.
The health ministry on Thursday evening said that Hospital Serdang has been redesignated as a full-time COVID-19 hospital, making it the fourth hospital in the state of Selangor to do so.
All cardiac services at Hospital Serdang will be fully outsourced to provide space for the treatment of COVID-19 cases, especially critical ones, added the health ministry.
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The worsening COVID-19 situation in Malaysia comes amid yet another political tussle, with opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim filing a motion of no confidence in parliament against Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.Â
The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) has also called for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to resign.
Their calls came after the king reprimanded the government for revoking the country’s emergency ordinances without his consent on Thursday.
As of Thursday, Malaysia has reported a total of 1,078,646 COVID-19 cases, of which 179,179 are currently active or infectious. The death toll stands at 8,725.
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