KUALA LUMPUR: The number of Covid-19 deaths in the country has dipped below 100 for the first time in over two months, with 99 deaths registered in the last 24 hours.
Health Ministry data on its CovidNow portal also showed that there were 193 backlogged death reports, bringing the cumulative number of reported deaths to 292.
The last time that the country recorded two-digit deaths was on July 6, also with 99 deaths.
Nationwide, the number of deaths had shown a downward trend. Sabah recorded the highest seven-day average of daily actual deaths, at 15.
The state also saw the most number of backlogged death reports with 84 fatalities.
In comparison, states that had previously logged high fatalities such as Selangor and Kuala Lumpur only had a seven-day average of seven and three deaths respectively.
However, in the past two weeks, the rate of deaths per 100,000 people was highest in Penang, at 16.5, followed by Johor at 11.6. This was followed by Sabah and Kedah with 9.5 and 9.2.
The ministry also saw 106 brought-in-dead cases yesterday, an increase from 88 the day before.
Cumulatively, 20,711 deaths had been reported since the pandemic hit the country last year.
Intensive care unit (ICU) utilisation, meanwhile, was still at a high of 83.9 per cent. Three states, namely Kedah, Kelantan and Penang have an alarming rate of ICU utilisation, busting its maximum capacity.
The ICU bed utilisation in Kedah is at 125.2 per cent, Kelantan at 103.8 per cent, and Penang at 101.8 per cent.
Other states which have an ICU utilisation rate of 90 per cent and above include Perak (93.3 per cent), Selangor (91.9 per cent), Johor (91.1 per cent), and Pahang (90 per cent).
Putrajaya also saw a high ICU utilisation rate of 95 per cent, but with only five active cases.
Only Labuan and Negri Sembilan had a utilisation rate of below 50 per cent, with 21.7 per cent and 45.5 per cent respectively.
Ventilator usage rate was the highest in Pahang with 37 active cases (55.9 per cent), followed by Penang at 45 active cases (52.2 per cent) and Kedah (41 active, 51.6 per cent ventilators utilised).
To date, 721 patients in the ICU are being ventilated, while 617 in the ICU do not require ventilator assistance.
Of the 237,277 current active cases nationwide, a majority are observing home quarantine. Nearly 11 per cent are being monitored at Covid-19 Low Risk Quarantine Centres, and 5.5 per cent were being treated in hospitals. -NST