Covid-19: Four deaths recorded today, toll rises to 19
CORONAVIRUS | The Covid-19 virus has claimed four lives in total today, raising the death toll to 19, said Health Ministry director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah.
He added that the total number of cases as of noon is at 1,796 with 172 new cases...
CORONAVIRUS | The Covid-19 virus has claimed four lives in total today, raising the death toll to 19, said Health Ministry director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah.
He added that the total number of cases as of noon is at 1,796 with 172 new cases.
He elaborated that of the new cases, 71 were traced to the Sri Petaling Tabligh gathering cluster which took place late last month and has become the epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak in the nation.
Noor Hisham said the sources of infection for the remaining 101 cases are still being investigated.
The 16th and 17th deaths were reported earlier today.
The reported deaths are as follow:
Patient 1,334 (16th death)
A 75-year-old Malaysian man who had a history of chronic illnesses. He was admitted to the Tuanku Mizan Armed Forces Hospital on March 16 before being transferred to Kuala Lumpur Hospital on March 18. He passed away on March 24.
Patient 1,251 (17th death)
A 66-year-old Malaysian man who had a history of chronic illnesses. Authorities suspect that he had a history of close contact with a positive Covid-19 patient, but this has yet to be confirmed. He passed away on March 25 at Sultanah Fatimah Specialist Hospital in Johor.
Patient 1,625 (18th death)
A 56-year-old Malaysian man who had a history of chronic illnesses. He passed away at Sultan Ismail Hospital in Johor on March 23. The case was registered late as the result of the test only came back positive on March 24.
Patient 1,246 (19th death)
A 68-year-old Malaysian woman who was admitted to the Sultanah Nora Ismail Hospital in Johor on March 19. She passed away on March 25.
"The Health Ministry conveys its condolences to their families," Noor Hisham said.
Meanwhile, according to Noor Hisham, the ministry suspects that the two of the dead had contracted the virus when they went to pray at a surau in Putrajaya.
He said the two cases were the 15th and 16th deaths, namely a 71-year-old man from Malacca who died in Muar and the 75-year-old man who died in HKL. Both passed away yesterday.
"Both of them had been in close contact with Patient 703 who had attended the tabligh gathering at the Sri Petaling Mosque.
"We suspect that the tabligh participant had gone to the surau and infected other members of the congregation," he said.
Noor Hisham said they have tested the imam of the surau and found him to be positive with the virus, too.
"Now we have to test all members of the congregation to see if they are positive or not," he said.
Keep up with the latest information on the outbreak in the country with Malaysiakini's free Covid-19 tracker. Malaysiakini is providing free access to the most important updates on the coronavirus pandemic. You can find them here.
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