Malaysia has its first COVID-19 death today (17 Mar).
The victim, a 60 years old Pastor from Emmanuel Baptist Church Kuching passed away at 11.00 am at Sarawak General Hospital.
The Sarawak State Health Department is still in the process to identify the source of his infection.
Meanwhile, 193 close contacts of the deceased have been traced and are undergoing home- quarantine.
The death was announced by the Sarawak State Disaster Management Committee.
The death is the first in Malaysia despite having over 600 active cases currently. This brings the nation’s total fatality rate to 1 in 600, or 0.17%, well below the world average of 3.5%