Serious Covid infections on the rise among young people

 

The health director-general says the trend in lower serious infections began after the start of the second phase of the vaccination programme.

PETALING JAYA: Fewer elderly people are being admitted with serious cases of Covid-19 infection but there is a rising trend among younger people, according to health ministry figures.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said data from Hospital Sungai Buloh showed an obvious drop in the admission of serious infections (cases in Category 4 and Category 5) among the elderly

Fewer serious infections were also being recorded among health workers, indicating the effectiveness of vaccines, he said.

However a chart by the ministry’s crisis preparedness and response centre showed there was a rise in the number of serious infections in Category 4 and 5 among those aged 20-39.

The chart also showed that those aged 40-59 formed the bulk of those who suffered serious infections.

In a comment on Twitter, the centre said the rise among younger people was related to the lower rate of vaccination among this age group.

A chart by the Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre showing fewer serious cases among the old, and a rising number among those aged 20-39.

Category 5 comprises critical cases, with patients requiring the use of ventilators, while Category 4 is for serious cases with patients requiring additional oxygen.

Noor Hisham said the downward trend among the elderly was in line with the start of the second phase of the vaccination programme in April which began to show results from June onwards.

He said that there were 171 serious cases among the 10,972 new infections reported today.

There were 26 cases in Category 5, 42 in Category 4 and 103 in Category 3 (those with pneumonia). The rest, amounting to 98% of today’s cases, had light or no symptoms.

Noor Hisham said all elderly people in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur without vaccination dates would be able to get walk-in jabs at vaccination centres.

Noor Hisham said there were 3,465 Covid-19 infections among the 245,983 health workers who had been fully vaccinated.

However, only three (0.1%) were in Category 3 and three (0.1%) in Category 4.

“None are in Category 5,” he said, adding that the vast majority were Category 1 and Category 2 patients.

“Vaccine saves lives and we can learn to live side by side with Covid-19,” he said. - FMT