Malaysia: majority of COVID-19 deaths related to diabetes, high blood pressure

Burial of a patient who died from COVID-19 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Malaysia's Ministry of Health on November 14 reported that majority of deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in the country were related to those with underlying diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

According to Dr. Feisul Idzwan Mustapha, deputy director of the Disease Control Division under the Malaysian Ministry of Health, statistics of pandemic-related deaths as of October 28 show that four out of 10 deaths, equivalent to 37.3 percent, have diabetes. This rate decreased slightly compared the ratio of 38.8 percent reported in 2020.

Globally, people who suffer from underlying health conditions, are at higher risk of serious infection and dying from COVID-19, Feisul stressed.

On the same day, the Malaysian Ministry of Health announced that the Southeast Asian nation recorded 5,809 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, including 5,782 domestically-infected and 27 imported ones, bringing the national tally to 2,541,147.

Malaysia also confirmed an additional 55 deaths from COVID-19, lifting its total fatalities to 29,631.

So far, about 78.4 percent of the Malaysian population have received at least one dose of vaccine against COVID-19, while 75.9 percent have been fully vaccinated./.

VNA