Covid-19 Watch: 350 new cases, nationwide ICU bed usage at 65pc

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia recorded 350 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday (Jan 17), bringing the total number of cases in the country to 5,033,254 infections since the pandemic began.

The Health Ministry’s KKMNow portal reported that 346 of Tuesday’s new Covid-19 cases were local transmissions while four imported infections were logged.

There were 349 recoveries on Tuesday. This brings the cumulative number of recoveries in Malaysia to 4,986,008 since the pandemic began.

The portal also reported that there were 10,327 active cases currently in the country, with 9,901, or 95.9%, observing home quarantine.

The KKMNow portal reported that 426 patients, or 4.3% of the total, were currently admitted to hospital for treatment. The number of Covid-19 patients warded at intensive care units (ICU) throughout the country stands at 16, with eight of these patients requiring ventilation support.

The ICU utilisation rate nationwide stood at 65%, with nine states or localities recording ICU usage rates of more than 60%.

Kelantan had the highest ICU utilisation rate at 80.8%, followed by Selangor (78.2%), Kedah (73.2%), Putrajaya (71.4%), Johor (69.6%), Melaka (69.6%), Sabah (69.3%), Perak (64.2%) and Kuala Lumpur (60.9%).

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry’s GitHub data repository reported that five Covid-19 deaths were reported on Tuesday with two classified as Brought in Dead (BID).

This brings the death toll to 36,919.