KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 31): Malaysia reported 5,298 new Covid-19 cases as of noon today, with 14 more deaths, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said.
Daily recoveries rose to 4,522, bringing the total recovery tally to 166,049. As the number of active cases was not far behind that of new confirmed cases, this means active cases rose by 762 today to 48,150.
The new cases comprised 5,295 local transmissions and three imported ones, involving two Malaysians and one foreigner, the ministry said.
Selangor continued to report the highest portion with 2,460 cases, of which 1,907 or 77.5% were from existing clusters or comprised close contacts of Covid-19 patients.
These were followed by Johor with 1,020 infections and Kuala Lumpur with 783.
PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry has confirmed that a delay in reporting Covid-19 cases to the National Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre led to the recent drastic increase in cases. For three days straight, the country was shocked by news of daily cases reaching above 5,000. The ministry confirms that the situation was caused by a delay in cases being reported, including positive cases that were found in 2020. The drastic increase in cases is due to massive targeted screenings at workplaces and high-risk groups in several states. However, these delayed cases have been given the appropriate action by the district health office, such as patient isolation, close contact tracing and treatment for positive cases, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in a statement Sunday (Jan 31).