Of the total new cases, only 26 are imported
by AZALEA AZUAR / pic by MUHD AMIN NAHARUL
MALAYSIA recorded 16,117 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, bringing the country’s total cumulative cases to 1,044,071.
According to a statement by Health DG Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham, 16,091 of the new cases are local while 26 are imported.
This brings the number of active cases to 170,224, the highest ever, where 1,023 patients are in intensive care units with 524 on ventilators.
The country has also recorded 207 new deaths, matching the previous day record-high, bringing the total death toll to 8,404.
Out of the total deaths reported, 31 involved brought-in-dead cases. Selangor still leads the highest number of new cases among the states with 6,616 cases followed by Kuala Lumpur (2,457), Kedah (1,000), Johor (907), Sabah (741) and Negri Sembilan (669).
Labuan and Perlis have the lowest number of cases with 11 and two respectively.
Meanwhile, 11,526 Covid-19 patients recovered, bringing the total recoveries to 865,439.
Dr Noor Hisham added that 25 of the 42 new clusters identified were linked to workplaces.
The infectivity rate for the whole country now is at 1.14.
As for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, 12.9 million Malaysians have received their first doses while 5.7 million were fully vaccinated.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri announced that several localities in Sabah, Kelantan, Johor, Sarawak and Pahang would be under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) beginning tomorrow until Aug 11.
In Sabah, it involves 11 localities in Kota Kinabalu, eight localities in Penampang, four localities in Beaufort, three localities in Tawau and a housing area in Ladang Tinabau, Kinabatangan.
In Johor, it involves localities in Kluang and Kulai, and one locality each in Tanah Merah, Kelantan, and Maran, Pahang.
Three localities in Kuching, Sarawak would be under EMCO.
On the other hand, EMCO in localities in Sabah, Pahang, Sarawak and Johor are expected to end today.
Separately, the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives had submitted a proposed enhanced standard operating procedure (SOPs) to the government to help speed up the opening of the micro small and medium enterprises sector, particularly the FCLO (First to Close Last to Open) businesses.
The SOPs entail a comprehensive set of guidelines from handling of customers, managing staff, operating hours as well as premises maintenance to ensure all comply with the post Covid-19 safety requirements.
Among the mandatory SOPs proposed include: business owners and workers must be fully vaccinated, weekly Covid-19 swab test and immediate closure of premise, for sanitation purposes, should there be any detected Covid-19 cases.