This is the first time that the number of daily cases has breached the 17,000-mark since Sept 17, 2021, when 17,577 cases were reported.

In a Twitter post, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the total number of infections now stands at 2,956,332.

Of the new infections, he said only 0.5%, or 86 cases, were under Category 3, 4 and 5 at the time of diagnosis.

“A total of 17,048 cases are under Category 1 and 2, while Category 3 has 58 cases, Category 4 has 24 and Category 5, four,” Noor Hisham added.

He said 5,681 patients had recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 2,829,752.

Meanwhile, 143 patients remain in intensive care (ICU), 83 of whom are confirmed Covid-19 positive and 60 suspected of being infected.

Of the patients in ICU, 78 required respiratory assistance, 35 of whom are confirmed Covid-19 positive and 43 suspected of being infected.

There were 17,004 local infections today, involving 16,601 Malaysians and 403 foreigners, and 130 imported cases, comprising 73 Malaysians and 57 foreigners.

The country’s Covid-19 infectivity rate (R-nought, or R0) has increased to 1.39, with Sarawak having the highest R-nought of 1.68, followed by Perlis (1.65), Sabah (1.59), Labuan (1.51), Terengganu (1.40), Kedah (1.36), Putrajaya (1.35), Penang (1.34), Pahang (1.28), Johor (1.26), Selangor (1.25), Perak (1.24), Kelantan (1.24), Melaka (1.20), Kuala Lumpur (1.18), and Negeri Sembilan (1.14).

Noor Hisham added that there were 15 new clusters reported today.

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