A TALE OF 2 COUNTRIES – SINGAPORE, PRAISED FOR ITS ALL-OUT COVID-19 TESTING, RECORDS 942 NEW CASES IN JUST ONE DAY – WHILE MALAYSIA, WHICH ADMITS IT’S STILL TRYING TO LOCATE TABLIGH SUSPECTS & HAS NOT SUFFICIENTLY TESTED ITS MASSIVE MIGRANT WORKFORCE REPORTS ‘ONLY 54 NEW CASES’: A CASE OF IF YOU DON’T TEST – YOU DON’T GET NEW CASES? OR HAS COVID-19 REALLY FLED M’SIAN SHORES?

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia recorded 54 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday (April 18), taking the total number of confirmed infections in the country to 5,305.

This is the third time this week that the country has recorded only double-digit figures for new cases in a 24-hour span.

At the Health Ministry’s daily Covid-19 media briefing, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah also announced that Malaysia had discharged 135 more patients as of noon Saturday.

So far, 3,102 patients have recovered from Covid-19 in Malaysia since the outbreak began, which means there are only 2,115 active cases currently being treated at the country’s health facilities.

The rate of Covid-19 recovery in Malaysia is 58.5% out of the total number of positive cases.

Currently, 49 patients are being treated at intensive care units (ICU), with 26 of them requiring the use of ventilators.

The country also reported two new deaths, which brings the Covid-19 death toll to 88 cases.

This translates to a fatality rate of 1.66% out of the total number of cases.

One of the deaths was a 60-year-old Malaysian man who had a history of high blood pressure and diabetes, while the other was a 36-year-old Myanmar man who came in late for treatment.

Malaysia is in its 32st day of the movement control order (MCO) as people are instructed to stay at home and their movement is heavily restricted.

The MCO is scheduled to end on April 28. – ANN

Singapore overtakes Malaysia in Covid-19 cases

PETALING JAYA: The number of Covid-19 cases in Singapore has exceeded those in Malaysia, with the island republic recording a total of 5,992 cases as of Saturday (April 18).

Singapore’s Ministry of Health said that another 942 cases of Covid-19 cases were recorded with the “vast majority” comprising work permit holders residing in foreign worker dormitories, reported The Straits Times.

“The number of local cases has continued to decline, with 14 Singaporeans/Permanent Residents among the cases today,” MOH said in a Facebook post on Saturday.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had said that Covid-19 infections in foreign workers’ dormitories could be expected to grow for a while more and it would take some time for circuit-breaker measures to show results.

As of Friday (April 17), Malaysia had confirmed 5,251 Covid-19 infections in the country.

So far, 2,967 patients have recovered from Covid-19 in Malaysia since the outbreak began, which means there are only 2,198 active cases currently treated at the country’s health facilities.

ANN