By Ida Nadirah Ibrahim
SUBANG JAYA, March 22 — Four Covid-19 fatalities were reported in Malaysia, bringing the death toll in the country to 19 so far.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said as of noon today, 172 new cases had been reported, bringing the total number of positive cases in Malaysia to 1,796.
He said based on preliminary investigations, 71 of the 172 new cases were linked to the tabligh assembly cluster at Jamek Sri Petaling Mosque, while the remaining 101 cases are from other clusters currently under investigation.
He said 16 patients had recovered and been discharged today, raising the number of fully recovered cases to 199 so far.
“A total of 45 positive Covid-19 cases are still being treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and 34 of them require respiratory aid,” he told a press briefing on Covid-19.
Dr Noor Hisham said the latest four deaths are as follow:
- Case 1,334: A 75-year-old male Malaysian citizen. The deceased had a history of chronic illness and had received treatment at the ICU Tuanku Mizan Armed Forces Hospital on March 16 before he was transferred to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital on March 18. The patient had required respiratory aid at the ICU and was pronounced dead on March 24 at 7.40 pm.
- Case 1,251: A 66-year-old male Malaysian citizen, who had a history of chronic illness as well as close contact with a positive Covid-19 case. He received treatment at the Sultanah Fatimah Specialist Hospital, in Johor, on March 20. The patient had required respiratory aid at the ICU and was pronounced dead on March 25 at 4.10 am.
- Case 1,625: A 56-year-old male Malaysian citizen with a history of chronic illness. He received treatment at the Sultan Ismail Hospital in Johor on March 20 and was pronounced dead on March 23, at 2 am.
- Case 1,246: A 68-year-old female Malaysian. The patient received treatment at the Sultanah Nora Ismail in Johor on March 19. Her health had deteriorated and was given respiratory aid in the ICU buy was declared dead on March 25, at 12.53 am.
Dr Noor Hisham said as of noon today, a total of 73 healthcare workers had tested positive for Covid-19.
He, however, said none of the cases was transmitted from treating other positive Covid-19 patients.
“From the total number, 47 of the cases (64.4 per cent) had originated from a wedding event that was also attended by those who had taken part in the tabligh gathering.
“Other cases were due to travel history and close contact with family members who had been infected by Covid-19,” he said.
Dr Noor Hisham added that a total of 1,895 healthcare workers that are tasked to handle Covid-19 patients at the Health Ministry’s facilities were tested for Covid-19, whereby 1,187 had turned out negative while the remaining 708 are awaiting results.
Neither those tested were positive of Covid-19.
Dr Noor Hisham had urged all healthcare workers and the frontliners to inform their head of departments if they had been directly involved or were in contact with those who had taken part in the following events:
- The tabligh gathering from February 27 to March 3,
- A wedding in Bangi on March 6,
- A wedding in Putrajaya on March 7, which was attended by healthcare personnel.
