PUTRAJAYA: The number of “brought-in-dead” (BID) Covid-19 cases has gone up, especially in the past two months, says Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

       “In April, there were 35 BID cases. This went up seven-fold to 246 cases in June alone, ” he said.

       Out of 4, 856 coronavirus deaths reported so far this year, 670 or 13.8% were BID cases.

       Malaysia recorded 73 Covid-19 fatalities yesterday, out of which 13 were classified as BID.

       Most of the country’s BID cases involved those aged between 50 and 70 (76%), with 64.5% of them having one form of comorbidity, he said in a statement yesterday.

       “The three states recording the highest number of BID cases are Selangor with 181 (27%), Kuala Lumpur with 78 (11.6%) and Sabah with 85 (12.7%), ” he said.

       “Covid-19 patients who are undergoing isolation at home have to be alert of their condition.

       “The warning signs to look out for include prolonged fever, breathing difficulties, chest pain, lack of appetite, severe fatigue and diarrhoea.”

       With the 73 fatalities reported yesterday, the country’s death toll has gone up to 5, 327.

       Selangor reported the highest number of fatalities at 29, followed by Negri Sembilan with 13.

       Nine of the casualties are foreign nationals.

       Malaysia’s Covid-19 figures showed no signs of slowing down, as the country reported 6, 982 cases yesterday, bringing the total cumulative figure to 765, 949.