COVID-19 | The Health Ministry reported 5,516 new Covid-19 cases today, bringing cumulative infections to 2,407,382.

Notably, only four new clusters were classified by the ministry, unlike the past few months when daily new clusters were always in the double digits.

This follows yesterday's reported tally of 5,745 cases and Monday's 5,434 which were the lowest in 112 days since June 28.

As of today, the number of Covid-19 patients (including suspected ones) in the intensive care unit (ICU) is 7.3 percent lower compared to a week ago.

Those who require intubation have also declined by 12.4 percent from a week earlier.

Beginning Oct 9, the Health Ministry will only publish today's breakdown of new cases by states after midnight on its CovidNow portal.

The breakdown by states for yesterday (Oct 19) is as follows:

Selangor (888)
Sarawak (749)
Sabah (695)
Johor (649)
Kelantan (597)
Penang (393)
Kedah (352)
Perak (341)
Terengganu (281)
Kuala Lumpur (259)
Pahang (223)
Malacca (168)
Negeri Sembilan (114)
Putrajaya (29)
Perlis (5)
Labuan (2)

As of yesterday, the R-naught for Malaysia was 0.88. An R-naught of less than 1.00 is desirable because it suggests the spread of Covid-19 is decelerating.

The only regions where the R-naught is above 1.00 are Kuala Lumpur, Negeri Sembilan and Putrajaya.

Clusters

The Health Ministry is monitoring 614 active Covid-19 clusters. The number of active Covid-19 clusters have dropped 19.4 percent since last week.

The four new clusters are: 

Industri Jalan KPB Tujuh
Category: Workplace
States: Selangor
District(s): Hulu Langat
Initial tests: 13 out of 13 infected (100 percent)

Industri Jalan P/1
Category: Workplace
States: Selangor
District(s): Hulu Langat, Petaling, Sepang, and Klang
Initial tests: 63 out of 499 infected (12.6 percent)

Lorong Jelawat Satu
Category: Workplace
States: Penang
District(s): Seberang Perai Tengah and Seberang Perai Utara
Initial tests: 14 out of 97 infected (14.4 percent)

Jalan Setiawangsa Sepuluh
Category: Non-Education Ministry institution
States: Kuala Lumpur
District(s): Titiwangsa
Initial tests: 7 out of 31 infected (22.6 percent)