PETALING JAYA: There was a downward trend in most major Covid-19 indicators compared to the week before, says Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (pic).

       However, he said, the number of cases needing intensive care (ICU) had increased by 2%.

       “Compared to the previous week, there was a decrease of 13.1% in new Covid-19 cases.

       “The average number of positive cases had reduced by 7%, from 70,829 cases to 65,573, and the decrease in the number of active cases had been consistent over the nine weeks.

       “The number of deaths decreased by 27.2% and cases requiring respiratory assistance did not show a significant change and remained at 214.

       “As at Nov 6, the daily R-naught in Malaysia has been reduced from 0.96 to 0.91 on Nov 1,” he said in a statement yesterday.

       Dr Noor Hisham added that as at yesterday, another 4,543 new Covid-19 cases were recorded for a cumulative total of 2,510,852.

       “Out of the 4,543 new Covid-19 cases, 15 are imported cases and 4,528 are local cases.

       “Some 112 patients fall under Categories 3, 4 and 5 whereas there are 4,431 cases under Categories 1 and 2.

       “A total of 7,348 patients had recovered from Covid-19.

       “There are 534 cases that needed ICU care,” he said.

       Dr Noor Hisham added that six new clusters were identified, raising the total to 314 active clusters in Malaysia.

       He also urged school authorities to pay attention to the safety and health of those attending school and the school’s environment to prevent Covid-19 outbreaks.

       “This is because it can result in a more widespread infection among students, teachers, staff in educational institutions and also to their families, and in turn, spread to the community.

       “Everyone must do their part in following the standard operating procedure to prevent education clusters from emerging,” he said.