KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has recorded 13,899 new positive Covid-19 cases as of noon today, taking the tally to 2,185,131 since the pandemic struck the nation last year.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 13,893 fresh cases involved 12,571 Malaysians, with the rest being foreigners.
There were six import cases involving three Malaysians and three foreigners, he added.
"Of the reported infections today, 13,688 cases or 98.5 per cent are those in Category 1 and 2 while there are 211 cases or 1.5 per cent are in Category 3,4 and 5.
"Up to 1,971 patients are being treated in the Intensive Care Units where 847 are confirmed to be infected with Covid-19 while 224 are suspected, probable and still being investigated.
"Those requiring breathing assistance are 601 cases where 359 are confirmed to be down with Covid-19 while 242 are suspected, probably and under probe," he said in a statement today.
Sarawak registered the highest infections nationwide with 2,712 cases, he added.
It was followed by Selangor with 2,341 , 1,377 in Johor and Perak (1,128), Kelantan (1,170), Penang (1,060), Sabah (962), Pahang (779), Terengganu (760), Kedah (708), Melaka (339),Kuala Lumpur (310) Negri Sembilan (194), Putrajaya (37), Perlis (17) and Labuan (five).
The ministry, he said, registered 12 new clusters bringing the total active ones nationwide to 1,214.
Five new clusters are workplace related (181 cases), three among the high-risk group (91), two involving the community (79) and as well as an education institution (17) and a religious group (9) respectively.
Dr Noor Hisham said the sole education institution cluster named Jalan Sutera Merah in Johor Baru was sparked by an 11-year-old boy, who tested positive for the virus today (Sept 25).
"The cluster also involved the staff and students of the institution in Jalan Sutera Merah 2, Johor Baru.
"The boy aged 11, who is the cluster's index case, began showing symptoms on Sept 19 and he was confirmed to have been infected today.
"So far, 17 people were found to have contracted the virus out of 60 people screened," he said.
Separately, Dr Noor Hisham said Pahang is the only state in the country to have recorded an infectivity rate or R-naught (Rt) of 1.01.
The Rt for the rest of the states ranged from 0.99 to 0.85.
Malaysia's Rt stood at 0.90, said Dr Noor Hisham.