More in ICUs as death toll passes 3,000 mark

(FMT) – The past week painted a bleaker picture of a raging Covid-19 pandemic, in the wake of a record-breaking seven days that forced Putrajaya to declare a total lockdown.

While the total number of cases between May 30 and June 5 dipped to 52,040 from the 53,419 cases recorded in the past week, the daily figures were still frightening.

On average, over 7,000 new cases were reported daily, with the highest being 8,209 recorded on June 3. The lowest was 6,824 reported on May 31.

Selangor continued to record the highest number of cases nationwide – although it could be attributed to the mass screenings in the state – on most days above the 2,000 mark.

On June 3, a total of 3,125 new cases were recorded in Selangor.

Even more disturbing was the steady increase in the number of those warded in the intensive care units – above 800. On May 31, it was 851, and yesterday, it jumped to 886.

As of last night, a total of 5,250 had been warded in the ICU.

The total number of Covid-19 related deaths has passed the 3,000 mark, with a record 126 deaths reported on June 2.

And, in the past week alone, there were 641 casualties, an increase from 451 the week before.

As of yesterday, the death toll stood at 3,291.

On the other hand, the total number of recoveries this past week showed an increase after 42,010 patients were discharged. Last week, it was 30,432.

The number of clusters also rose to 162 from the 145 recorded in the past week.

And as of June 4, a total of 3.4 million people had received at least one vaccine dose.

Covid-19 making the headlines

FMT takes a look at some of the major headline news involving Covid-19 over the past week.

Armed Forces to open six more field hospitals

The Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) will be opening six more field hospitals to treat Covid-19 patients, bringing the total to eight.

This follows an increase in the budget for the health sector, including for the construction of field hospitals, announced by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin as part of the Pemerkasa economic package.

We got it wrong, CITF says over Selangor vaccine data

The Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) admitted it made a mistake when stating that Selangor had received about 2.9 million Covid-19 vaccine doses as of May 30.

It said the state had received 615,210 doses as of June 1.

Malaysia to run clinical trial of new Chinese Covid-19 vaccine

Malaysia has been selected to run a trial of a Chinese Covid-19 vaccine.

The vaccine, produced by Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products Co, was approved by China last month.

Govt agrees to hybrid Parliament sitting – in principle

The government has agreed in principle for Parliament sittings to be done in a hybrid manner, with MPs present both physically and virtually.

De facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan said a detailed study was being conducted before a complete working paper on the matter is presented to the Cabinet for approval.

After banging tables and pointing fingers, ministers told to unite

An argument broke out among several ministers over the move by Azmin Ali’s ministry to allow some 95,000 companies to operate even during the lockdown.

It is understood that the ministers involved in the argument were Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the senior minister for security, and Azmin, the senior minister for economy.

No happy hour for breweries

Breweries were told to shut down during the lockdown as they were not deemed an essential manufacturing sector.