PUTRAJAYA: A 23-year-old university student from Kota Samarahan, Sarawak became the youngest Covid-19 patient to have died from the infection, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said.
The Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) student with a history of thyroid disease was admitted to the Sarawak General Hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) after she experienced breathing difficulties on March 30.
Dr Noor Hisham said the student was the fifth generation patient from a cluster that involved a gathering at a church in Kuching. She died at 9.42am today.
“She came late for treatment, in which, this patient was admitted when her infection had already reached Category 4.
“The patient needed breathing assistance from ventilators before she eventually succumbed (from the infection),” he told reporters here today.
The student is one of the two Covid-19 fatalities reported to the Health Ministry’s National Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) as of noon today, raising the death toll from the deadly virus in the country to 67 cases.
According to the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee secretariat, the victim’s parents were also confirmed positive with Covid-19.
Dr Noor Hisham said the other victim is a 59-year-old man, who was suffering from an auto-immune disease and other chronic illness, with a history of attending the tabligh gathering at the Seri Petaling mosque.
The man died at the Melaka Hospital at 5am today.
He also said the number of patients who had fully recovered and discharged from the hospitals surpassed the number of new confirmed Covid-19 cases.
A total of 121 patients, he said, were given a clean bill of health, bringing the total cumulative number of people recovered from the infection to 1,608.
“A total of 109 new cases were reported to the ministry as of noon today, which brings the total (cumulative) to 4,228 cases.
“A total of 72 cases are still being treated at ICUs, of whom, 43 of them required breathing assistance,” Dr Noor Hisham said.