KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia on Sunday (June 19) reported zero deaths due to Covid-19 for the first time since Dec 18, 2020.
Health minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced this in a late-night tweet, adding: "Our ongoing transition to endemicity has been calibrated and data-driven. Let us pray it continues paying off."
New infections also saw a decline on Sunday, with 1,690 cases recorded compared with 2,127 recorded the previous day.
Statistics on the health ministry's CovidNow website showed that the total number of active cases is at 25,944, with 96 per cent of infected people undergoing quarantine at home.
Only 3.9 per cent or 1,000 patients are hospitalised, of whom 23 are in intensive care, with 15 requiring ventilation assistance.
Malaysia has recorded a total of 4,538,922 Covid-19 infections and 35,732 deaths since the pandemic began in 2020.
In a separate statement on Monday, health director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah said more Covid-19 patients were admitted into public hospitals in the week of June 12 to 18, as the number of infections in the country rose by 27.9 per cent to 14,195 cases.
He said the number of patients hospitalised last week with milder symptoms under Categories 1 and 2 was up 17 per cent, while inpatients classified as Categories 3, 4, and 5 dropped by 8 per cent.
Category 1 patients are asymptomatic, while Category 2 ones have mild symptoms. Category 3 patients have lung infections, Category 4 patients require oxygen, and Category 5 refers to critical cases with organ damage and requiring ventilator assistance.
Dr Noor Hisham said the number of new infections undergoing home quarantine rose by 37.6 per cent last week.
Malaysia began transitioning towards the "endemic phase" of Covid-19 on April 1, reopening its international borders and allowing travellers who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus to enter without quarantine.
The wearing of face masks outdoors, social distancing and Covid-19 testing for fully vaccinated inbound travellers were no longer mandatory from May 1.
