PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - A 23-year-old woman has become Malaysia's youngest Covid-19 patient to succumb to the disease, said the Health Ministry.

Health director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah said the patient had a history of thyroid illness.

"She had a history of close contacts with two Covid-19 patients and was the fifth generation cluster of a church gathering in Kuching, Sarawak," he said in his daily briefing on Thursday (April 9).

Dr Noor Hisham said the woman was treated at the Sarawak General Hospital and died on Thursday at 9.42am.

He added that the woman had sought treatment at a very late stage.

"Most of the cases - 88 per cent of them - come in when they are at category one or two, but this patient came to the hospital when she was in category four.

"She needed oxygenation and eventually ventilation. The patient finally succumbed to the illness," he said.

Covid-19 patients are categorised based on the severity of their symptoms, with those in category four and five considered to be severe.

There were 109 new positive Covid-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the total to 4,228 cases.

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The death toll in the country now stands at 67 people, with two new deaths on Thursday, including the 23-year-old.