KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia recorded its highest daily Covid-19 cases at 3,337 over the past 24 hours, raising the cumulative infections to 147,855.
It is the record high for Malaysia since the pandemic struck the country, compared to the 3,309 cases logged on Jan 12 and 3,027 cases on Jan 7.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 3,330 infections were local transmissions.
He said the country also reported the second highest number of deaths at 15 as of noon today, raising the total number of Covid-19 fatalities to 578.
On Jan 8, the country logged 16 deaths.
Sabah accounted for the highest number of deaths at eight where the oldest and youngest female patients, aged 91 and 27, died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu.
The 91-year-old had other underlying illnesses — diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic lung diseases and blindness while the 27-year-old female had a medical history of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)
Selangor reported three deaths, followed by Johor with two deaths while Putrajaya and Negeri Sembilan recorded one fatality each.
Majority of today's fatal cases had a history of chronic diseases, with 11 of them being diabetic patients.
Meanwhile, 195 Covid-19 patients are currently being treated in the Intensive Care Units, including 86 who are placed on respiratory support.
Dr Noor Hisham also said a total of 1,710 patients had recovered as of noon today.