KUALA LUMPUR – A total of 3,369 Covid-19 recoveries were reported today, almost double the number of recovery cases yesterday, while 3,731 new cases were recorded overnight.
However, there were also 15 new fatalities, raising the country’s death toll to 872 people, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said.
He said Malaysia’s total number of recoveries now stands at 190,339 cases, while the infection tally is at 242,452 cases.
“Of these, 51,241 of them are active cases,” he said in a media statement on COVID-19 developments today.
Eight of the new cases were imported and involved four Malaysians, while among the 3,723 local transmissions, 1,946 were Malaysians, he said.
Dr Noor Hisham said 292 COVID-19 patients were being treated in the intensive care unit, with 140 of them intubated.
He said all of the new fatalities involved Malaysians, comprising eight men and seven women aged between18 and 94, adding that 14 of them had underlying illnesses.
Selangor highest
Dr Noor Hisham said Selangor remained the state with the highest number of daily cases, reporting 1,606 infections, followed by Johor (499) and Kuala Lumpur (372).
Melaka recorded 313 cases, Penang (250); Sarawak (219); Sabah (160); Negeri Sembilan (92); Perak (71); Kedah (43); Pahang (34); Kelantan (32); Terengganu (29); Putrajaya (nine) and Perlis with two cases.
Also, seven new clusters were identified, taking the number of active clusters to 411, of which 81 recorded an increase in new cases.
Of the seven clusters, three involved workplaces, namely Tapak Bina Lembah Selatan and Jalan Bagan in Selangor and Jalan Gangsa Dua in Johor, while the two community-based clusters were Seruas (Sarawak) and Taman Segar (Perak).
Dr Noor Hisham said Lorong Mawar was a religious cluster in Perak while another high risk group cluster identified was Ampang Campuran in Selangor.
Clusters that recorded the highest increase in new cases were the Industri Serkam cluster (246 cases), Gudang Salak Tinggi (127) and Tapak Bina Lembah Selatan (99).
“So far, a total of 454 clusters have ended, including seven today, namely Pintu Geng, Ehsan Ibol, Persiaran Heights, Langkasuka, Wawasan, Jalan BBN and Texmile,” he said.
Millions of tests done
In a related development, a total of 6,414,565 Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) and RTK Antigen screening tests have been conducted since last year until Feb 5 this year, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba.
He said 3,332,554 of the RT-PCR screening tests were conducted last year.
This year alone, as of last Feb 5, 188,284 RT-PCR tests were conducted, he said in a statement today and attributed the high number, despite the short period, to the requirement for employers to send their targeted workers for the screening test.
Meanwhile, he said a total of 1,893,727 RTK tests had been conducted until last Feb 5.
“This shows that the government is paying attention to the RTK antigen or RTK-PCR test so that we can detect COVID-19 cases fast. The sooner we test, the sooner we get to isolate them,” he added.
Meanwhile, he said, the setting up of the COVID-19 Assessment Centre last month was also important to monitor the asymptomatic cases.
This is to determine whether the patients can be placed under home quarantine or to be sent to the COVID-19 Quarantine and Low-Risk Treatment Centre (PKRC), he added.
Worrying level
Meanwhile is Sibu, the spread of COVID-19 has reached a worrying level.
In fact, according to Sibu Division Disaster Management Committee coordinator Dr Annuar Rapaee, the spread of COVID-19 following the emergence of the Pasai Cluster last month is no longer confined to the 58 longhouses which were affected.
“Looking at the number of new cases at the moment, 27 per cent are from the cluster, while another 70 per cent come from the town area,” he said today.
Annuar, who is also Sarawak Assistant Minister of Local Government and Housing, said this during a talk streamed live on Facebook, hosted by Sibu Municipal Council chairman Clarence Ting Ing Horh.
Sarawak chief infectious disease specialist Dr Chua Hock Hin also joined the talk.
Chua said the prevalence of the disease in Sibu town was very real, and everybody would need to play their part to curb the spread of the deadly virus.
He lamented that many people did not bother to get a swab test after developing COVID-19 symptoms such as mild fever, runny nose and sore throat.
“When they come to the hospital, they are generally very sick, but the damage has been done and they have already spread the disease to other people,” he said.
Go for swab tests early
He urged the public to go for swab tests as soon as they experienced symptoms so that they could be treated early.
“While waiting for their swab test results, they should refrain from mingling with other people to avoid spreading the virus,” he added.
Chua stressed that the public must adhere to the Movement Control Order (MCO) which is being enforced in Sibu, as well as strictly follow the standard operating procedure (SOP) to combat the disease.
“Do it not just for yourselves, but for your parents, children and spouse also,” he added.
The talk, which attracted an audience of over 200 people, was held just as the Chinese community is busy preparing for the Lunar New Year celebration which falls on Feb 12.
Ting, who is very concerned with the rising trend of COVID-19 cases in Sibu, has been calling on the community to cancel their family reunion for this year.
As of yesterday, Sibu has recorded 101 COVID-19 positive cases, with 32 from the Pasai Cluster, 30 from active case detections, five from symptomatic screenings, and 34 from swab tests done at health facilities in Sibu.
“After Chinese New Year, there will probably be 200 new cases daily,” said Ting, adding that he was worried after finding out that 45 health workers had been infected.
He said everybody must take personal responsibility to combat the deadly virus.
“Cases in other towns are also rising, but not as many as in Sibu. It will not go away if we do not take personal responsibility in preventing it,” he said.
