PETALING JAYA: Malaysia recorded 19,105 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday (March 20), bringing the total number of infections in the country to 3,993,124 cases since the pandemic began, says the Health Ministry.

       According to data from the ministry's GitHub data repository, this is the first time that new infections have dropped below 20,000 cases since Feb 10, 2022, when Malaysia recorded 19,090 case.

       The ministry's CovidNow portal, meanwhile, reported that 18,719 of Sunday's new infections were local transmissions, while 386 were imported cases.

       The portal also said that recoveries continued to outpace new infections, with 28,250 Covid-19 patients recovering from their infections.

       This brings the total number of active Covid-19 infections in the country to 274,059.

       The bulk of active infections, or 263,985 individuals (96.7%), are asymptomatic or only have minor symptoms and are undergoing home quarantine.

       A further 1,623 cases, or 0.6% of the total, are being treated at low-risk quarantine and treatment centres nationwide.

       A total of 7,080 Covid-19 patients, or 2.6% of the total are seeking treatment at hospitals while 371 have been admitted to intensive care units (ICUs).

       Of the ICU admissions, 168, or 0.1%, do not require ventilator support while there are 203 patients who are ventilated.

       The nationwide ICU utilisation rate now stands at 58.4%, with eight states and localities reporting usage rates of more than 60%.

       The ICU utilisation rate is the highest in Kuala Lumpur at 78.4% followed by Perlis (73.7%), Johor (71.9%), the Klang Valley (68.0%) and Kelantan and Selangor (both 64.6%).

       The Health Ministry's GitHub data repository also reported that there were 71 Covid-19 deaths reported on Sunday, including 26 brought-in-dead (BID) cases.