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Active cases decline, recovery rate exceeds 90 percent

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Health staff queuing at the health clinic at Presinct 18 in Putrajaya for their turn to get the vaccine. Photo: Bernama
BY MELATI MOHD ARIFF

This is a round-up of Covid-19 related matters in Malaysia and globally from Feb 27 up to noon today. In Malaysia, case numbers have exceeded 300,000.

KUALA LUMPUR: Covid-19 transmissions have been under control over the week (Feb 27-March 4), with daily new cases falling below 2,500 and the recovery rate reaching 92 percent.

Over the 24-hour period up to noon on Thuesday, 2,063 new infections were recorded nationwide while 2,922 patients recovered. Earlier this week for three days in a row from March 1 to 3, daily new cases had dipped to below 2,000, that is, 1,828 (March 1), 1,555 (March 2) and 1,745 (March 3).  

The last time Malaysia recorded daily cases of below 2,000 was Jan 3 (1,704).

Malaysia’s cumulative total of Covid-19 cases exceeded the 300,000 mark on Sunday, Feb 28. And, as of Thursday, the nation recorded a total of 307,943 cases.

Active cases, meanwhile, fell below 25,000 to 23,161 on Thursday. Malaysia’s total number of active cases was at its highest on Feb 10 at 52,186.  

With its total of 307,943 cases, Malaysia remained at the 45th spot in the list of 216 countries affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Just ahead of Malaysia is Slovakia with 317,159 cases.

China, where the first case involving the deadly coronavirus was reported in December 2019, is at the 85th spot with 89,952 cases, while Malaysia’s neighbour Singapore remains at the 99th spot with 59,998 cases.

The breakdown for daily new cases over the week is as follows: 2,364 (Feb 27); 2,437 (Feb 28); 1,828 (March 1); 1,555 (March 2); 1,745 (March 3) and 2,063 (March 4).

With Thursday’s 2,922 recoveries, the total number of recovered cases stood at 283,629 (92.1 percent of total cases).

The breakdown for recovered cases over the week is as follows: 3,320 (Feb 27); 3,251 (Feb 28); 2,486 (March 1); 2,528 (March 2); 2,278 (March 3; and 2,922 (March 4).

As of March 4, nine districts in Peninsular Malaysia were declared green zones, namely Kubang Pasu, Padang Terap and Langkawi in Kedah; Kampar in Perak; Kemaman in Terengganu; and Bera, Lipis, Raub and Cameron Highlands in Pahang.

Immunisation programme, MCO 2.0 updates

According to Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, as of March 3, a total of 99,616 individuals nationwide received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

In Perlis 1,896 people were immunised; Kedah 5,171; Penang 4,034; Perak 8,844; Selangor 6,483; Kuala Lumpur 10,970; Putrajaya 2,054; Negeri Sembilan 4,332; Melaka 3,740; Kelantan 10,941; Terengganu 4,570; Pahang 8,546; Johor 8,470; Sabah 3,492; Labuan 1,939; and Sarawak 14,134.

Malaysia received its first batch of 312,390 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Feb 21.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Dr Noor Hisham were among the first to receive the vaccine following the rollout of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme on Feb 24.

The immunisation plan will be implemented in three phases and the aim is to vaccinate 80 percent of the population to reach herd immunity in the community and break the deadly coronavirus’ chain of transmission. 

The first phase is from Feb 24 to April; second phase April to August; and third phase from May to Feb 2022.

According to Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, as of Thursday, a total of 1.9 million individuals have registered themselves in the MySejahtera mobile application to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.

He said the number was small in comparison to the nation’s population.

Dr Noor Hisham said in his personal Facebook account that the Covid-19 infectivity rate or R0/Rt value as of Thursday was 0.87. The state that recorded the highest R0 was Penang at 1.14 while the lowest (0.56) was recorded by Terengganu and Melaka.

On March 2, meanwhile, Ismail Sabri announced that Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Negeri Sembilan, Johor, Penang, Kedah, Perak and Kelantan will be placed under Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) starting today (March 5) up to March 18.

Sarawak is currently under CMCO from March 2 to March 15.

Melaka, Pahang, Terengganu, Perlis, Sabah, Putrajaya and Labuan have been placed under Recovery MCO from March 5 to March 18.

Inter-district travel is allowed in all the states (except Sabah) beginning today but interstate travel is still prohibited.

Malaysia is under emergency rule starting Jan 12 up to August this year.

Still many workplace clusters

As of Thursday, Malaysia had a total of 1,177 Covid-19 clusters, out of which 687 have ended.

A total of 490 clusters are still active with 76 of them reporting new cases. The three clusters that recorded the highest number of new cases are Lorong Bakau cluster (90 cases), Jalan Kebun Nenas (90 cases) and Queens Waterfront construction site cluster (87 cases).

On Thursday, 14 new clusters were reported with 12 of them being workplace clusters (five in Selangor, four in Johor, two in Penang and one in Negeri Sembilan). The two remaining new clusters were a community cluster and a high-risk group cluster, both in Johor.

Most of the workplace clusters were detected following the targeted screening of workers, particularly migrant workers at factories and construction sites, which started on Dec 1, 2020.

So far, Selangor and Johor have reported the highest number of workplace clusters.

Among the workplace clusters that reported the highest number of positive cases is the Jalan Kempas Tiga cluster that was detected on March 1 and involved workers of two factories in Bakri in Muar, Johor. As of March 1, 344 out of the 592 individuals screened tested positive.

The Perusahaan Jalan Bukit cluster in Hulu Langat district, Selangor, recorded 262 cases as of Feb 28.

The Bukit Kiara construction site cluster in Kepong district recorded 181 cases as of Feb 28.

Three community clusters were reported this week, one each on March 1, 2 and 3, involving care centres for senior citizens. The clusters are Jalan Cempedak cluster in Kuala Lumpur (10 cases), Bukit Blossoms cluster in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan (18 cases) and Jalan Anak Gasing cluster in Petaling, Selangor.

Speaking at a media conference on Thursday, Dr Noor Hisham said so far 21 clusters have been reported involving care centres for senior citizens — two during the second wave of Covid-19 infections and 19 during the current third wave.

Fifteen of these clusters are still active and nine deaths due to Covid-19 have been reported involving the residents of the centres concerned.

A community cluster linked to a funeral ceremony was reported on March 3. As of March 3, it reported 35 cases involving the districts of Alor Gajah and Melaka Tengah (Melaka), Petaling (Selangor) and Johor Bahru.

Covid-19 case details

Selangor accounted for 630 of the 2,063 new cases reported on Thursday. The state also reported five new clusters, all involving the workplace.

Sarawak recorded 361 cases on Thursday from existing clusters and screening of close contacts; Penang 337 cases and two new clusters (workplace); and Johor 255 and six new clusters, four of which were workplace clusters and the remaining two a community cluster and a high-risk group cluster.

Kuala Lumpur reported 120 cases; Perak 101; Negeri Sembilan 91 and one new cluster (workplace); Sabah 78; Kelantan 44; Pahang 13;  Kedah 12; Terengganu 10; Putrajaya seven; Melaka three; and Perlis one.

Currently, 193 cases are in the intensive care unit with 99 requiring respiratory aid.

On Thursday, five deaths were reported, bringing Malaysia’s Covid-19 death toll to 1,153 (0.38 percent of total cases). – Bernama

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