Two more deaths, 123 new cases
Published on: Monday, March 23, 2020
By: Bernama
File photo from Bernama.
Kuala Lumpur: Two Covid-19 fatalities were reported Sunday, bringing the death toll in Malaysia so far to 10.Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the latest deaths involved Case 890 who was a doctor of the Health Ministry (KKM) and Case 259 who was from the tabligh cluster in Sri Petaling, here.
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“The ninth (fatal) case was a 48-year-old Malaysian man with a travel history to Turkey. He was a staff member of KKM who had been treated at the ICU of Hospital Tuanku Fauziah, Kangar,” he said.
Dr Noor Hisham said the victim was confirmed to have died at 10.30am.
He said the 10th death was that of a 74-year-old Malaysian man from the tabligh cluster who was diagnosed with Covid-19 on March 14 and put on respiratory aid after his condition worsened.
“He was confirmed to have died at 4.05pm on March 22,” he told a press briefing.
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He said that as at noon Sunday, 123 new cases had been reported, bringing the total number of positive cases in Malaysia to 1,306.
Based on preliminary investigations, 74 of the 123 new cases were linked to the tabligh assembly cluster at Masjid Jamek Sri Petaling while the other 49 were linked to other clusters which were yet to be determined pending the completion of investigation, he said.
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He said 25 patients had recovered and been discharged Sunday, raising to 139 the number of fully recovered cases so far.
“A total of 46 positive Covid-19 cases are still being treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and 22 of them require respiratory aid,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry expects to be able to carry out 16,000 Covid-19 screenings a day by April compared to just 3,500 now.
Dr Noor Hisham said tests are currently being conducted by 18 Health Ministry and five private laboratories.
“The Institute for Medical Research will train several other laboratories, including in military and university hospitals, to enhance Malaysia’s ability to conduct Covid-19 detection tests,” he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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