PETALING JAYA: The country reported 19,268 new daily Covid-19 cases – the first time the figure dipped below the 20,000 mark in seven days.

       On Aug 23, the daily cases totalled 17,672.

       Of the 19,268 cases recorded in the latest 24-hour span, 399 cases or 2.1% were in Categories Three, Four and Five, said Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

       “The remaining 18,869 or 97.9% were in Categories One and Two,” the Health director-general added in his daily statement yesterday.

       Overall, 14,664 or 76.1% of the total cases comprised those who had not been vaccinated or were yet to be fully vaccinated.

       “A total of 1,033 patients required treatment in the intensive care unit while 476 needed respiratory support,” he said.

       Up and running: People waiting for their turn to get their Covid-19 shots at the Stadium Hang Jebat PPV in Melaka. The mega PPV, which started operating yesterday, is able to administer 5,000 injections a day to recipients. — Bernama

       Populous Selangor remained the state with the most cases with 3,567, followed by Sabah (2,310) and Johor (2,265).

       Dr Noor Hisham also said that another 295 deaths – 261 locals and 34 foreigners – were reported.

       “Of the number, 53 were brought-in-dead (BID) cases.”

       A total of 36 new clusters were detected, said Dr Noor Hisham, with 17 of them involving the workplace, 14 within the communities, two high-risk groups, two education premises and one detention centre.

       The latest data by the Health Ministry also showed that the Covid-19 infectivity rate or R-naught (Rt) in Malaysia was 1.01, with Sarawak registering the highest at 1.24, followed by Perlis (1.20) and Sabah (1.14).

       All of the states and territories recorded Rt of more than 1.0 except Pahang, Melaka, Labuan as well as Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, part of the Greater Klang Valley targeted by the government’s recent Operation Surge Capacity to intensify healthcare response and vaccination rates.