KUALA LUMPUR: New cases of Covid-19 declined again with 4,083 recorded on Saturday (Dec 18) from 4,362 cases on Friday (Dec 17).

       Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said out of the number today, 4,049 involved local infection, while 34 were imported cases.

       "This brings the cumulative number of cases in this country so far to 2,715,847," he said in a statement on the Covid-19 developments on Saturday.

       "There are 69 reported daily cases, or 1.7% in categories 3, 4 and 5 and 4,014, or 98.3% in categories 1 and 2 today, as well as 5,435 cases that have recovered, bringing the cumulative number to 2,630,680,” he added.

       Meanwhile, 341 patients are being treated at the intensive care units, with 145 of them requiring respiratory support.

       Three more clusters have been identified, bringing the number of active clusters to 252 which are being monitored.

       The national infectivity rate or Rt is at 0.91, an increase from 0.90 yesterday, with Negeri Sembilan, Pahang and Penang still recording the highest Rt at 1.0. - Bernama