KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has now recorded more than 1,000 Covid-19-related fatalities in just under half a month, making June the deadliest month yet for the country since the pandemic began last year.
Covid-19 claimed 107 more lives today, bringing the overall death toll to 5,108.
The 107 fatalities is the country's third deadliest day to date. Malaysia recorded its highest single day fatalities on June 2 with 126 deaths, followed by 109 on June 5.
The 5,108 overall deaths also means that the country has now recorded more than 1,000 deaths within the span of two weeks.
On June 15, the overall death toll was at 4,069.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the fatalities today involved those aged between 34 and 92.
Out of the 107 victims, 99 were Malaysians.
He said 43 deaths were reported in Selangor, 16 in Negri Sembilan, 11 in Kuala Lumpur, seven each in Kedah and Melaka, six in Johor, four each in Sabah, Kelantan and Labuan, two each in Sarawak and Pahang, and one in Terengganu.
14 of them were brought in dead.
He said the oldest patient was a man who was brought in dead to the Sarikei Hospital in Sarawak. He had a history of high blood pressure and dyslipidemia.
The youngest patient, meanwhile, was a man who died at the Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital in Sungai Petani, Kedah. He had a history of diabetes.
The other patients had underlying medical conditions such as heart and chronic kidney diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart problem, asthma, obesity, and stroke.
Only 13 had no chronic ailments.
Dr Noor Hisham said 905 patients were currently being treated in the intensive care units, of whom 455 required ventilator support.
New infections also surged today, with 6,437 cases recorded over the last 24 hours.
Malaysia had on Monday registered 5,218 new infections.
Selangor continued to contribute the highest number of new infections with 2,299 cases, followed by Kuala Lumpur with 1,361 and Negri Sembilan with 700.
Kedah reported 284 new cases, 271 in Johor, 252 in Melaka, 250 in Pahang, and 242 in Sarawak.
Perak recorded 184 new cases, followed by Sabah with 178, Kelantan (131), Labuan (117), Penang (115).
Putrajaya and Terengganu reported double-digit tallies at 32 and 21, respectively, while Perlis had no new cases.
Dr Noor Hisham said the new cases today brings total infections to 745,703, with 62,844 being active cases.
Malaysia also recorded 5,298 recoveries, bringing the total of individuals who have recovered to 677,751.
Meanwhile, 27 new clusters were recorded today, of which 13 were community clusters, 12 workplace-linked clusters, one high-risk group cluster, and one linked to a private educational institution registered under the Education Ministry.
These clusters have so far contributed 667 new cases.
He said Kelantan, Pahang, Selangor, Johor, and Perak contributed two community clusters each, while Sabah, Sarawak, and Putrajaya had one each.
The clusters were Taman Desa An Nur and Banggol Chicha Ketereh in Kelantan; Kampung Lada and Sungai Ling in Pahang; Jalan Empat Bandar Baru Bangi and Cahaya Enam in Selangor; Kenawar 69 and Jalan Bidara in Johor; Rimba Raja and Kampung Jelutong in Perak; Muhibbah Menggatal in Sabah; Nanga Belungai in Sarawak, and Jalan Putra Sembilan in Putrajaya.
"The Muhibbah Menggatal cluster contributed the biggest number of positive cases with 42," he said.
The workplace-linked clusters were reported in Selangor- Industri Balakong Sembilan, Jalan PJS Lapan, Tapak Bina Sunsuria City, and Industri Sungai Chua Satu; in Kuala Lumpur- Jalan Alor Setar, Tapak Bina Jalan Choo Cheng Kay, and Tapak Bina Jalan Tun Razak; in Negri Sembilan- Industri Lorong Bunga Tanjung Satu, Jalan Dataran Segar and Jalan TJ 2; and in Pahang- Industri Benus and Jalan Jaya Temerloh.
Dr Noor Hisham said the Industri Lorong Bunga Tanjung Satu cluster contributed the biggest number of positive cases with 101.
He said the high-risk group cluster was unearthed in Jalan Pee Kang Hai in Johor, with 29 people testing positive.
"The private educational institution cluster was reported at Jalan Tanggilan, involving Putrajaya and Selangor, with nine positive cases."