KUCHING, March 21: Malaysia has registered its sixth fatality related to Covid-19 today, with two casualties reported in Sarawak and one in Peninsular Malaysia.
According to the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee, the two fatality cases in the state involved a 79-year-old woman and her 40-year-old daughter, both from Kuching.
The mother died at a private medical centre in the state capital at 2am on March 18, while the daughter died at the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) at 1pm, today.
“Another family member who was tested positive for Covid-19 is still warded and is on life support at SGH. The source of the infections is still being investigated,” the committee said in a statement.
It added that the delay in reporting the death of the septuagenarian was because the private medical centre, where she was warded, had to wait for the test result from private laboratory in Kuala Lumpur.
Sarawak also recorded 10 new positive Covid-19 cases, bringing the total to 68 cases since the first three cases reported on Friday, March 13. Five of the cases were reported at Sibu Hospital, three in SGH (including the 40-year-old woman who died today) and two in Bintulu.
The state also recorded another 37 Person Under Investigation (PUI) cases, bringing the total accumulative cases to 751. Out of these, 711 had tested negative and 40 awaiting test results.
Meanwhile, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the casualty in Peninsular Malaysia involved a 50-year-old man from the tabligh cluster, who recently suffered severe acute respiratory failure (SARF) syndrome and warded at Malacca Hospital.
“It is heartening to report that the there is one casualty which involved a 50-year-old man and it is the 238th case.
“He was from the tabligh cluster and was admitted to Malacca Hospital on March 12 after being diagnosed with severe acute respiratory failure syndrome. He was given breathing aid while in isolation ward and in intensive care unit (ICU).
“As time goes by, his health conditions deteriorates. He was pronounced dead at 1.30am on March 21,” he told a press conference on the update of Covid-19 this evening.
Dr Noor Hisham said as of noon today, 153 new cases of Covid-19 were reported nationwide. This brought the cumulative number of positive cases to 1,183.
“Based on initial findings of the 150 new cases today, 90 cases were linked to the tabligh gathering cluster at Sri Petaling Mosque. The remaining cases are still pending investigation,” he continued.
He said that in the last 24 hours, there were a few casualties of Covid-19, which were reported to the national Crisis Prepardness Response Centre (CPRC).
Dr Noor Hisham added there were 19 staff from the ministry and five workers from the private healthcare facilities infected with Covid-19. Out of the 19 staff, two are being treated at ICU.
They were infected was a result of close contacts from the first and second generations of the cluster from the tabligh gathering, he continued.
Dr Noor Hisham said as of March 14, a total of 337 ministry staff underwent Covid-19 fever triage and testing. About 251 staff were tested negative while 86 pending laboratory tests results. — DayakDaily
