The usual death figures reported on a daily basis are not deaths recorded in the last 24 hours. For example, on 11th September, a total of 592 new COVID-19 deaths were reported which looks alarming. However, only 100 were actual deaths recorded on the day itself while the remaining 492 deaths were backlog cases that were not recorded previously. This may include deaths that occurred days or even weeks before.
He added that most of the backlog are a result of the high number of people brought in dead to hospitals as their causes of death had to be investigated before they can be reported as COVID statistics. Khairy also mentioned that most of the BID cases were COVID-19 patients who were quarantined at home and were not taken to the hospital in time as soon as their condition deteriorated.Reporting of true deaths for each day will help provide a clearer picture of the COVID-19 fatalities in Malaysia.