by SHAHEERA AZNAM SHAH / pic by RAZAK GHAZALI

MALAYSIA recorded 2,500 new Covid-19 positive cases as of noon yesterday, bringing the number of active cases in the country to 30,753, said Health DG Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (picture).

There were 18 Covid-19 deaths, while 186 cases required respiratory assistance and 352 patients were treated in the intensive care unit.

“Of the fatalities, seven were in Selangor, three in Kuala Lumpur, two each in Sarawak and Kelantan, and one each in Negri Sembilan, Kedah, Johor and Sabah.

“Seventeen of them were citizens, while one non-citizen,” Dr Noor Hisham said in a statement.

As of yesterday, 2,068 cases have recovered, bringing Malaysia’s recovery rate to 92.3%.

Selangor maintained its position as the highest contributor with 637 cases, followed by Kelantan (401), Sarawak (356) and Johor (205).

The Health Ministry (MoH) also found nine new clusters involving three community clusters and workplace clusters, two education clusters including an Education Ministry’s educational institution cluster and one detention centre cluster.

Meanwhile, Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said another 519 individuals were nabbed yesterday for violating the standard operating procedures (SOPs) out of which 508 were compounded, while the remaining 11 individuals were remanded.

Among the violations were failure to provide personal details at premises, not practising social distancing, activities at entertainment centres and failure to wear face masks.

Based on the recommendation by MoH and a risk assessment made by the Movement Contol Order (MCO) Technical Committee, the government is imposing an Enhanced MCO (EMCO) at Taman Tanah Putih Baru, Pahang, to begin tomorrow until May 18.

As of May 2, MoH has recorded 11 new cases from 40 screening tests conducted in the community and 29 samples are still awaiting results. The EMCO at five localities in

Hulu Besut, Terengganu, ended yesterday according to schedule.

Ismail Sabri said MoH had conducted 2,486 screening tests where 107 were positive Covid-19.

“MoH informed us that the trend has decreased and the cluster has been under control as the last four cases recorded were on April 20, 2021.

“All positive cases were treated, while all the close contacts had gone through the monitoring period of 14 days,” he said.

The EMCO at Maahad Tahfiz Al-Quran Wa Qiraat in Machang, Kelantan, also ended yesterday as scheduled.