by ALIFAH ZAINUDDIN/ FILE PIX
 
MALAYSIA reported 649 new Covid-19 cases today, the third consecutive fall in daily infections, bringing the total number of infections to 30,090.

The country also registered no new deaths, maintaining the total number of deaths at 246 or 0.8% of overall cases.

Sabah remained the hardest-hit state, recording 352 new cases yesterday against 546 on Wednesday.

Selangor was the second-worst affected, chalking up 138 new cases. The two states, along with the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, contributed 511 cases or 78.7% of the total cases recorded yesterday.

685 recoveries were also reported, pushing the recovery count to 19,757 or 65.7% of total cases.

This leaves Malaysia with 10,087 active cases. 106 patients are under intensive care, of which 23 require respiratory support.

Health Ministry director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in a statement announced the opening of a second quarantine and low-risk Covid-19 treatment centre in the Federal Territory of Labuan following the spike in new cases over the past month.

He said between Sept 27 and Oct 29, Labuan recorded 366 new infections compared to 26 cases from the start of the pandemic in March until Sept 26.

The Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) for Labuan has since been extended to another 14 days until Nov 13.It was first placed under the CMCO on Oct 17.Health officials also identified five new clusters of Covid-19 cases in Sabah, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. They are the Sakti Cluster in Sabah, Tuguson Cluster (Sabah), Bah Medan Cluster (Selangor), Taman Laut (Selangor) and Taman Bunga Cluster (Negeri Sembilan).