KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama) – The COVID-19 situation in the country is under control after a week’s transition to endemic phase and despite the emergence of a new variant Omicron XE, reportedly detected in several nations including Thailand.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin was reported as saying recently, the new Omicron XE variant of the Covid-19 virus, whose existence was confirmed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is not a concern yet in Malaysia.
He said the Omicron XE variant had only been reported in neighbouring Thailand, with no cases detected in Malaysia to date, noting that the Ministry of Health (MOH) is following the updates on the new variant, including reports from WHO.
A total of 11,994 new daily COVID-19 cases were reported yesterday with Selangor and Kuala Lumpur each contributing 6,419 and 1,094 cases respectively.
Imported cases saw a drop to 25 and of the total, 20 were Malaysian citizens and another five (5) were non citizens.
During the week under review, only seven (7) clusters were recorded. Of the total, three (3) were workplace clusters, three (3) education clusters and one (1) high risk cluster.
Cumulatively, Malaysia’s COVID-19 cases stood at 4,292,585. COVIDNOW data from MOH as of yestrerday showed active cases dropped to 157,571 cases.
For the record, Malaysia recorded the lowest daily cases during the week from April 2 to April 7, that is 10,002 cases on April 4. The lowest case was reported on Feb 6 (10,089 cases).
Malaysia continues to report new daily cases below 15,000 during the week. The breakdown is as follows:
April 2 (14,692), April 3 (12,380), April 4 (10,002), April 5 (12,017), April 6 (12,105) and April 7 (11,994).
Malaysia entered its transition to endemic phase of COVID-19 starting April 1 as an exit strategy that allows Malaysians to return to near-normal life after battling the pandemic for nearly two years. The phase is meant to be a temporary period before the country can move into the actual endemic stage which depends on the announcement from the WHO.
Recovered cases exceeded the new daily cases during the week, with the breakdown as below:
April 2 (20,383), April 3 (20,635), April 4 (23,302), April 5 (20,431), April 6 (21,029) and April 7 (16,603).
With a cumulative figure of 4,292,585 Malaysia is now ranked 23rd in the list of 226 nations/territories struck by the COVID-19 pandemic. Ahead of Malaysia is Australia (4,911,725) and Ukraine (4,980,224).
According to Worldometer, of the list of 226 nations, South Korea took the top spot with the highest new daily cases of 224,761 with 348 deaths, followed by Germany with 200,547 cases (289 deaths) and France 158,792 cases (105 deaths).
MOH COVIDNOW data as of yesterday showed active COVID-19 cases stood at 157,571 and of the total, 153,859 (97.6 per cent) were home quarantined.
A total of 341 cases (0.2 per cent) were at the COVID-19 Integrated Quarantine and Treatment Centre (PKRC); 3,174 cases (2.0 per cent) at hospitals; 89 cases (0.1 per cent) at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) without respiratory assistance (APB) while 108 cases (0.1 per cent) at the ICU with ABP.
Below is the state-by-state breakdown of four (4) digit numbers during the week under review:-
April 2 – Selangor (8,662) and Kuala Lumpur (1,311);
April 3 – Selangor (7,613);
April 4 – Selangor (5,791);
April 5 – Selangor (7,448);
April 6– Selangor (6,783);
April 7 – Selangor (6,419) and Kuala Lumpur (1,094).
Health Director General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in a statement today said, of 11,994 new daily cases reported yesterday, a total of 6,509 cases (54.27 per cent) were in category 1; 5,395 cases (44.98 per cent) were in category 2; 40 cases (0.34 per cent) were in category 3; 22 cases (0.18 per cent) were in category 4 and 28 cases (0.23 per cent) were in category 5.
According to MOH, category 5 is for critical cases requiring ventilators; category 4 is for patients needing oxygen assistance and category 3 is for patients with pneumonia. Category 1 is for patients who are asymptomatic and category 2 is for those with mild symptoms.
Recovered COVID-19 patients yesterday stood at 16,603 cases, bringing the total recoveries to 4,099,786 (95.5 per cent).
Of 91 confirmed COVID-19 cases at the ICU as of yesterday, 50 needed respiratory assistance.
Malaysia’s COVID-19 infectivity rate or Ro/Rt value based on estimated daily cases yesterday was below 1.00 with the breakdown for the week as follows:
April 2 (0.85), April 3 (0.85), April 4 (0.86), April 5 (0.86) , April 6 (0.86) and April 7 (0.83).
As of yesterday, the state with the highest Ro/Rt value was Selangor (1.03).
The R-Naught or R0/Rt value of a virus indicates the infectivity rate or the number of new infections generated by each case. An R0 value of 0.5 would be needed to flatten this deadly virus’ infection curve.
COVID-19 SCENARIO IN MALAYSIA
Active cases with probable infection:-
April 2 (201,232), April 3 (192,947), April 4 (179,619), April 5 (171,172), April 6 (162,216) and April 7 (157,571).
The state-by-state breakdown in daily new cases (11,994) as of yesterday (+imported cases) is as follows:-
Four-digit new daily cases – Selangor 6,418 (+1) and Kuala Lumpur 1,090 (+4).
Three-digit new daily cases – Johor 623 (+2), Kedah 355 (+1), Kelantan 130 (+0), Melaka 255 (+8), Negeri Sembilan 613 (+1), Pahang 316 (+ 0), Perak 547 (+2), Penang 619 (+1), Sabah 176 (+0), Sarawak 413 (+0) and Terengganu 289 (+2).
Two-digit new daily cases – Perlis 35 (+0), Labuan 45 (+0 ) and Putrajaya 45 (+3).
New record cases, imported cases, local transmission:
April 2 – New cases: 14,692 (cumulative 4,234,087); Imported cases: 218 [209 citizens (95.9 per cent); 9 non citizens (4.1 per cent)]; Local transmission: 14,474 [13,835 citizens (95.6 per cent); 639 non citizens (4.4 per ccent)];
April 3 – New cases: 12,380 (cumulative 4,246,467); Imported cases: 462 [326 citizens (70.6 per cent); 136 non citizens (29.4 per cent)]; Local transmission: 11,918 [11,408 citizens (95.7 per cent); 510 non citizens (4.3 per cent)];
April 4 – New cases: 10,002 (cumulative 4,256,469); Imported cases: 98 [94 citizens (95.9 per cent); 4 citizens (4.1 per cent)]; Local transmission: 9,904 [9,588 citizens (96.8 per cent); 316 non citizens (3.2 per cent)];
April 5– New cases: 12,017 (Cumulative 4,268,486); • Imported cases: 59 [51 citizens (86.4 per cent); 8 non citizens (13.6 per cent)]; • Local transmission: 11,958 [11,394 citizens (95.3 per cent); 564 non citizens (4.7 per cent)];
April 6 – New cases: 12,105 (Cumulative 4,280,591); Imported cases: 43 cases [41 citizens (95.3 per cent); 2 non citizens (4.7 per cent)]; Local transmission 12,062 [11,555 citizen (95.8 per cent); 507 non citizens (4.2 per cent)]);
April 7 – New cases: 11,994 (Cumulative 4,292,585); Imported cases: 25 [20 citizens (80.0 per cent); 5 non citizens (20.0 per cent)]; Local transmission: 11,969 [11,494 citizens (96.0 per cent); 475 non citizens (4.0 per cent)].
Meanwhile, total active clusters in the country as of yesterday stood at 151. Overall, a total of 6,945 clusters were detected in the country with 6,792 of them having ended.
During the week under review, only seven (7) new clusters were recorded. Of the total, three were workplace clusters (42.8 per cent), three (42.8 per cent) were education clusters and one high risk (14.3 per cent).
Newrecord cases, imported cases, local transmission:
April 2 – 2 (workplace 1 and education 1);
* workplace – Industri Lot 27 (Melaka Tengah, Melaka cluster) – Total cases reported: 104.
April 3 -NO CLUSTER.
April 4 – NO CLUSTER.
April 5 – 1 (education 1);
April 6 – NO CLUSTER.
April 7 – 4 (workplace 2, education 1 and high risk 1).
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN THE COUNTRY
The breakdown of COVID-19 patients based on their respective categories:
*Category 5 is for critical cases requiring ventilators; category 4 is for patients needing oxygen assistance and category 3 is for patients with pneumonia. Category 1 is for patients who are asymptomatic and category 2 is for those with mild symptoms.
Of 14,692 daily cases reported on April 2:
- Category 1: 8,557 (58.24 per cent);
- Category 2: 6,056 (41.22 per cent);
- Category 3: 27 (0.18 per cent);
- Category 4: 19 (0.13 per cent); and
- Category 5: 33 (0.23 per cent).
Of 12,380 daily cases reported on April 3:
- Category 1:7,559 (61.05 per cent);
- Category 2: 4,736 (38.26 per cent);
- Category 3: 32 (0.26 per cent);
- Category 4: 20 (0.16 per cent); and
- Category 5: 5: 33 (0.27 per cent).
Of 10,002 daily cases reported on April 4:
- Category 1: 5,495 (54.94 per cent);
- Category 2: 4,418 (44.17 per cent);
- Category 3: 30 (0.30 per cent);
- Category 4: 33 (0.33 per cent); and
- Category 5: 26 (0.26 per cent).
Of 12,017 daily cases reported on April 5:
- Category 1: 6,646 (55.30 per cent);
- Category 2: 5,303 (44.13 per cent);
- Category 3: 28 (0.23 per cent);
- Category 4: 15 (0.13 per cent); and
- Category 5: 25 (0.21 per cent).
Of 12,105 daily cases reported on April 6:
- Category 1: 6,623 (54.71 per cent);
- Category 2: 5,387 (44.51 per cent);
- Category 3: 40 (0.33 per cent);
- Category 4: 17 (0.14 per cent); and
- Category 5: 38 (0.31 per cent).
Of 11,994 daily cases reported on April 7:
- Category 1: 6,509 (54.27 per cent);
- Category 2: 5,395 (44.98 per cent);
- Category 3: 40 (0.34 per cent);
- Category 4: 22 (0.18 per cent); and
- Category 5: 28 (0.23 per cent)
Total recoveries for the week are as follows:
April 2 (20,383), April 3 (20,635), April 4 (23,302), April 5 (20,431), April 6 (21,029) and April 7 (16,603).
*cumulative recovered cases as of yesterday stood at 4,099,786 (95.5 per cent).
The daily breakdown in fatalities is as follows:
*BID = Brought-in-Dead are cases outside the hospital and those brought to the hospital’s forensic department; positive COVID-19 cases after PT PCR tests conducted.
April 2 – 56 (BID 11), April 3– 30 (BID 11), April 4- 28 (BID 7), April 5– 33 (BID 10), April 6 – 32 (BID 9) and April 7- 36 (BID 9).
*Total fatalities as of yesterday stood at 35,228 cases.
GLOBAL COVID-19 STATISTICS
According to Worldometer, total COVID-19 cases to date stood at 496,549,028 cases compared to 489,548,722 the previous week with 6,195,441 deaths from 6,170,510 previously. Total recovered ccsaes stood at 432,035,139 from 424,404,539 the previous week.
Some 226 countries are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and those in the top 10 of the list are the United States (US), India, Brazil, France, Germany, the United Kingdom (UK) , Russia, Italy, Turkey and South Korea.
The breakdown of the top 10 nations (+ new record daily cases) is as follows:
US 81,988,278 (+32,659);
India 43,032,752 (+794);
Brazil 30,094,388 (+27,139);
France 26,549,263 (+158,792);
Germany 22,364,607 (+200,547);
UK 21,508,546 (+29,229);
Russia 17,955,120 (+14,355);
Italy 15,106,066 (+69,596);
Turkey 14,939,259 (+9,354);
South Korea 14,778,405 (+224,761).
China, where the COVID-19 outbreak was first reported at end-December 2019, reported a surge in cases, and according to AFP, a total of 20,472 cases were reported on Wednesday (April 6). The majority of cases were reported in Shangai, the largest city in China.
Besides Malaysia, the Southeast Asian nations namely Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Brunei, have joined the list of 125 countries with more than 100,000 COVID-19 cases
The cumulative breakdown of COVID-19 cases (+new daily cases) is as follows:-
Vietnam 12th spot – 9,980,464 (+NO INFORMATION);
Indonesia 18th – 6,028,413 (+2,089);
Malaysia 23rd – 4,292,585 (+11,994);
Thailand 28th – 3,807,908 (+26,081);
Philippines 30th – 3,680,514 (+278);
Singapore 54th – 1,128,155 (+4,269);
Myanmar 78th – 612,132 (+53);
Laos 109th – 191,017 (+2,033);
Brunei 121st -137,585 (+346);
Cambodia 122nd – 135,861 (+27).
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COVID-19 BACKGROUND
The World Health Organisation (WHO)’s China country office was informed of cases of pneumonia that were detected in Wuhan on Dec 31, 2019. On Jan 7, 2020 the Chinese authorities confirmed that the newly detected novel coronavirus can be transmitted from human to human.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-COV).
A study of the virus’ genetic sequence suggested similarities to that seen in snakes and bats. China health officials identified the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan as the source of the transmission of the coronavirus.
On Feb 11, 2020, WHO announced the official name of the virus, COVID-19, which is an acronym for coronavirus 2019 – CO stands for corona, VI for virus and D for disease.
On Jan 30, 2020, WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak as a global emergency and on March 11, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic.
WHO has described the COVID-19 outbreak as much more dangerous than the A H1N1 Influenza, also known as Swine Flu.
Swine Flu, which occurred between January 2009 and August 2010, infected more than 1.6 million people and caused 18,449 fatalities. It was first detected in Mexico and later in the United States in March 2009.
COVID-19 was detected in Malaysia on Jan 25, 2020, when three Chinese citizens, who had entered Malaysia through Johore from Singapore on Jan 23, were tested positive for the disease.
New variants of the COVID-19 coronavirus have since emerged in the United Kingdom (identified as B117) in September 2020, South Africa (501Y.V2) in October 2020 and India (B.1.617), also in October 2020.
Cumulatively, Malaysia’s COVID-19 cases have breached the one million mark as on July 25, with 1,013,438 cases. The first time daily cases reached the five-digit level was on July 13 with 11,079 cases.
WHO on Nov 26 designated a new variant of COVID-19, named Omicron, a variant of concern. It was first detected in Gauteng Province, South Africa.
Scientists at the IHU have detected a new variant named B.1.640.2 at end-November last year, with 46 mutations on its spike protein and nicknamed it IHU.
Meanwhile, Israel has confirmed its first case of an individual infected with ‘Flurona’, a term coined to describe the condition of being infected with COVID-19 and the seasonal flu simultaneously. (Jan 2, 2022).
Sources: BERNAMA
