BY MELATI MOHD ARIFF
This is a round-up of Covid-19 related matters in Malaysia and globally from Oct 3 up to 12.30pm Thursday.
KUALA LUMPUR: This week, daily new Covid-19 cases rose in numbers never seen before in this country, with the highest – 691 – recorded on last Tuesday.
Three states, Sabah, Kedah and Selangor, continued to rage as Covid-19 hotspots.
Over the 24 hours up to Thursday afternoon, 375 new cases were reported of which 303 were categorised as community transmissions while 18 involved prisoners and people on remand.
Another 50 cases were from temporary clusters and four were imported.
Together with Thursday’s new cases, Malaysia’s total number of Covid-19 cases has swelled to 14,368 while active cases have ballooned to 3,703.
On Thursday, five more clusters were announced – two in Sabah, Tujuh Serangkai and Tanamera clusters; one in Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Pantai cluster; one in Sarawak, Bah Arnab cluster; and one in Labuan, Bah Bangat cluster.
Deaths, other cases
Five deaths were reported in Sabah on Thursday, bringing Malaysia’s Covid-19 death toll to 146.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said four of the patients who died had a history of chronic illnesses.
One death was reported on last Saturday involving a Malaysian male in Tawau, Sabah, and on last Tuesday there were four fatalities – three in Sabah and one in Penang. One of the Sabah fatalities was a one-year-old Malaysian child who was tested positive for Covid-19 on Oct 5 and died in Hospital Semporna on the same day.
On Thursday, 87 patients were discharged and the cumulative total of recovered cases now stands at 10,427 (77.2 percent of total cases). Sixty patients are in the intensive care unit with 20 requiring respiratory aid.
Dr Noor Hisham, meanwhile, said there was no need to reopen the low-risk Covid-19 quarantine and treatment centre at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park (Maeps) in Serdang for now despite the hike in active cases as Hospital Sungai Buloh still can accommodate patients.
“If the need arises, we just need three days to reopen the centre (Maeps),” he said.
For the record, new Covid-19 cases reported this week are as follows: Thursday 375, Wednesday 489, Tuesday 691, Monday 432, Sunday 293, and Saturday 317.
Meanwhile, 301 of the new cases reported between Sept 20 and Oct 8 have a history of travel to Sabah.
Third wave
In his personal Facebook account on Thursday, Dr Noor Hisham wrote the following: “We’ve now entered the third wave of #Covid19. Once again, we must work together to break this chain of infections. #KitaJagaKita.”
The first time he spoke about the third wave was on Oct 2 when Malaysia recorded 287 new cases. He had said that the rising trend in Covid-19 infections was also evident in other countries.
Dr Noor Hisham has previously appealed to Malaysians to unite to stem the rise in Covid-19 cases.
“We cannot win this war to contain or mitigate virus transmission without public support. All we ask is for the public to ‘Stay at Home’ and if that is not possible then please comply with the simple SOP; wear a mask, safe distancing and frequent hand washing.
“Failure to comply will increase the risk of infection and disease transmission. The public plays a crucial role by fully complying with all SOPs set, regardless of who the person is.”
Current status on clusters
According to Dr Noor Hisham, Malaysia has thus far reported a total of 147 clusters, out of which 101 have ended.
Currently, 46 clusters, including today’s five new ones, are active.
In Sabah, the clusters that reported new cases on Thursday are Ramai-Ramai (six), Laut (five), Benteng LD (three), Tujuh Serangkai (three) and Tanamera (two). Sabah accounted for 271 of the new cases reported on Thursday.
In Selangor on Thursday, the Meru cluster recorded 12 cases. Selangor accounted for 36 new cases on Thursday, including four cases following screening upon their return from a high-risk area (Sabah).
Kedah only accounted for 16 new cases on Thursday after having recorded hundreds of new infections over the previous few days. On Thursday, 14 cases were from the Tembok cluster and one from Bah Sintok cluster.
Kuala Lumpur, meanwhile, recorded 10 cases on Thursday, including eight from the Jalan Pantai cluster; Labuan had 10 cases including eight from the new Bah Bangat cluster; Sarawak had six cases including three from the new Bah Arnab cluster; Johor five cases; Perak five cases including two from the new Bah Puchong cluster; Terengganu five cases; Negeri Sembilan two cases; Putrajaya two cases; Melaka one case; and Penang one case (Remand cluster).
CMCO in red zones
A 14-day conditional movement control order (CMCO) has been imposed in four red zones in the country – three in Sabah (Sandakan, Papar and Tuaran) and Klang, Selangor – starting tomorrow to stem the transmission of Covid-19.
It will also enable health authorities to carry out targeted case detection activities.
During the CMCO period, movements in or out of the four zones are not allowed except for those involved in essential services and factory operations.
The four red zones have a total population of 1.9 million.
Global Covid-19 statistics
According to CoronaTracker (which cites figures from various agencies including WHO), the total number of Covid-19 cases worldwide at the time of writing this article stood at 36,751,502 (34,517,055 cases at the same time last Friday) and 1,066,856 deaths (1,028,194 last Friday). The total number of recoveries stood at 25,666,624.
The United States continues to head the list of badly-hit nations with 7,833,763 cases (7, 494,671 last Friday) and 217,738 deaths (212,660 last week).
India is now on the second spot with 6,903,812 cases and 106,521 deaths.
Brazil is third with 5,029,539 cases and 144,767 fatalities. Russia is fourth with 1,260,112 cases and 22,056 deaths.
China, where the outbreak was first reported at end-December 2019, is now on the 43rd spot with 85,521 cases while its death toll remains at 4,634.
In Southeast Asia, the Philippines and Indonesia have joined the countries with more than 100,000 cases. Next is Singapore with 57,849 cases while its death tally remains at 27, followed by Myanmar with 22,445 cases and 535 deaths. (Last week at this time, Myanmar reported 14,383 cases and 321 deaths.)
Thailand has recorded 3,622 cases while its death toll remains at 59, followed by Vietnam with 1,100 cases and 35 deaths.
Cambodia’s cases rose to 281 and its death tally remains zero. Also unchanged are Brunei’s tally at 141 cases and two deaths, and Laos’ 23 cases and zero fatality.
Covid-19 background
According to the WHO website, its China country office was informed of cases of pneumonia that were detected in Wuhan on Dec 31, 2019. On Jan 7, the Chinese authorities confirmed that the 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, 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, WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak as a global emergency. By then, it had spread to 18 countries and caused 170 deaths. On March 11, Covid-19 was declared a pandemic by WHO.
WHO has described the Covid-19 outbreak as 10 times 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.
The International Monetary Fund has warned that the global economic recession caused by the Covid-19 pandemic will be worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s. – Bernama
