PETALING JAYA: Malaysia recorded 6,623 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday (April 17), bringing the total number of cases in the country to 4,389,025 infections since the pandemic began.

       The Health Ministry's CovidNow portal reported that 6,610 of Sunday's new Covid-19 cases were local transmissions while 13 imported infections were logged.

       Recoveries continued to outpace new infections, with 11,233 patients recovering on Sunday. This brings the cumulative number of recoveries in Malaysia to 4,249,704 since the pandemic began.

       The portal also reported that there were 103,900 active cases currently in the country, with 101,294, or 97.5% observing home quarantine and 356 individuals, or 0.3%, admitted to low-risk quarantine and treatment centres.

       The CovidNow portal also reported that 2,250 patients, or 2.17% of the total, were currently admitted to hospital for treatment. The number of Covid-19 patients warded at intensive care units (ICU) throughout the country stands at 126, with 76 of these patients requiring ventilation support.

       The ICU utilisation rate nationwide stood at 53.8%, with five states or localities recording ICU usage rates of more than 60%.

       Kuala Lumpur had the highest ICU utilisation rate at 69.1%, followed by Johor (66.7%), Selangor (66.1%), Kedah (65.8%) and Putrajaya (65%).

       A total of 12 Covid-19 deaths were reported on Sunday, of which eight were classified as brought-in-dead (BID).

       This brings the death toll to 35,421.