PETALING JAYA: Malaysia recorded 5,899 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday (April 21), bringing the total number of cases in the country to 4,415,101 infections since the pandemic began.

       The Health Ministry's CovidNow portal reported that 5,883 of Thursday's new Covid-19 cases were local transmissions while 16 imported infections were logged.

       Recoveries continued to outpace new infections, with 8,434 patients recovering on Thursday. This brings the cumulative number of recoveries in Malaysia to 4,291,447 since the pandemic began.

       The portal also reported that there were 88,184 active cases currently in the country, with 86,284, or 97.8%, observing home quarantine and 159 individuals, or 0.2%, admitted to low-risk quarantine and treatment centres.

       The CovidNow portal reported that 1,741 patients, or 1.97% of the total, were currently admitted to hospital for treatment. The number of Covid-19 patients warded at intensive care units (ICU) throughout the country stands at 92, with 61 of these patients requiring ventilation support.

       The ICU utilisation rate nationwide stood at 52.7%, with six states or localities recording ICU usage rates of more than 60%.

       Johor had the highest ICU utilisation rate at 73.7%, followed by Kuala Lumpur (71.1%), Putrajaya (70%), Kelantan (69%), Selangor (66.1%) and Kedah (64.4%).

       Meanwhile, the Health Ministry's GitHub data repository reported that five Covid-19 deaths were reported on Thursday, of which four were classified as brought-in-dead (BID).

       This brings the death toll to 35,470.