PUTRAJAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - With active Covid-19 cases Malaysia declining, the Health Ministry is seeing some breathing space in its hospital overcapacity problem.

The Health Ministry's director-general, Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, said one move that has helped to ease the ministry's burden is allowing low-risk and asymptomatic Covid-19 patients to undergo home quarantine.

He said bed occupancy at hospitals and Covid-19 quarantine centres has generally dropped in the first two weeks of the month.

"In the first week of February, 28,412 Covid-19 patients were approved to undergo isolation at home.

"In the second week, 19,800 patients were under home quarantine. I believe this number has helped ease overcapacity at our hospitals and quarantine centres.

"The bed occupancy for Covid-19 patients at hospitals has dropped to 47 per cent and at quarantine centres to 37 per cent, " he said at his regular Covid-19 briefings on Wednesday (Feb 17).

He added that beds at intensive care units were now down to 55 per cent in occupancy.

"Once upon a time, the figure almost reached 80 per cent to 90 per cent.

"Now, I think we are able to accommodate our facilities better, and this can be enhanced from time to time, " he said.

Total active cases were at 41,396cases on Wednesday, compared to above 50,000 in recent weeks.

Earlier, Dr Noor Hisham announced 5,718 Covid-19 patients had been discharged on Wednesday - a new record for recoveries in a single day.

Patients who are classified under Categories 1 and 2 can undergo quarantine in their homes with the supervision of the ministry's Covid-19 Assessment Centres (CAC).

Category 1 comprises positive cases with no symptoms; and Category 2 is for positive cases with mild symptoms.

The CAC is also tasked with assessing first if a patient's living conditions are suitable for home quarantine.

Malaysia on Wednesday logged 2,998 daily Covid-19 cases, the third day in a row that cases were below 3,000 a day. Cumulative cases in the country stood at 272,163 the third highest in South-east Asia after Indonesia and the Philippines.

There were 22 deaths to raise total fatalities rose to 1,005.