KUALA LUMPUR: Unvaccinated individuals regardless of age are most at risk of suffering Covid-19 category four and five infections and also succumbing to the disease, says Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

       The Health director-general said this was evident from the Health Ministry’s data on Covid-19 categories four and five cases and deaths per population of 100,000 for the period Jan 26 to Feb 22.

       "This can be seen onministry charts and across almost all age groups,” he said in a statement Wednesday (Feb 23), which also contained charts showing that severe Covid-19 cases and deaths were more prevalent among unvaccinated individuals during that period.

       According to Dr Noor Hisham, individuals who have received the booster dose enjoyed the highest level of protection against the disease.

       "It is clear that cases of serious Covid-19 infections (categories three, four and five) and deaths were lower among booster dose recipients compared to the unvaccinated group or those who have completed their vaccination but have yet to get the booster shot,” he added.

       On hospital bed use for Covid-19 patients in intensive care units, Dr Noor Hisham said the utilisation rate in four states had exceeded 50%, with Kelantan at 78%, Johor (69%), Kuala Lumpur (62%) and Melaka (54%).

       He said 27,179 new positive cases were recorded on Tuesday (Feb 22), with 99.37% or 27,007 cases in categories one and two while 172 cases or 0.63% were in categories three to five.

       A total of 19,037 recoveries were registered Tuesday, bringing the cumulative figure for recovered cases to 2,974,441 since the pandemic began in early 2020. - Bernama

       Kenyataan Akhbar KPK 23 Februari 2022 – Situasi Semasa Jangkitan Penyakit Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) https://t.co/kVJnNulIkd

       — Noor Hisham Abdullah (@DGHisham) February 23, 2022