Another week of records for Malaysia in Covid-19 battle

 

There were record-high numbers of daily Covid-19 cases reported in several states outside the Klang Valley over the past seven days.

PETALING JAYA: The 23,564 new Covid-19 cases reported on Friday, the third straight day of record high daily cases, highlights the pandemic’s increasingly worrying situation in the country.

At the state-level, this week also saw record-high numbers of infections in several states outside the Klang Valley.

Between Aug 15 and Aug 21, five states recorded their highest tally of daily cases – Sabah (2,583), Penang (1,867), Negeri Sembilan (1,619), Sarawak (1,403) and Perak (1,229).

Also distressing was the record number of 101 brought-in-dead (BID) cases on Aug 15. This comes after the record was broken twice and on two consecutive days the week before. There were 93 BID cases on Aug 12 and 96 BID cases on Aug 13.

On average, 55 BID cases were recorded per day over the past seven days.

A total number of 264 clusters were detected over the past week, including a record-high 49 clusters on Aug 18. On average, 38 clusters were detected each day over the past seven days.

Workplace clusters once again continued to dominate infections detected in the past week, followed closely by clusters linked to the community.

Meanwhile, an average of 244 Covid-19 related deaths per day were reported over the past seven days. In total, there were 1,708 fatalities.

This alarming rate has seen the number of Covid-19 related deaths come close to breaching the 14,000 mark. As of yesterday, the death toll stood at 13,936.

FMT takes a brief look at the major headlines on Covid-19 over the past week.

Restrictions lifted for fully vaccinated

The 10km travel limit has been lifted for fully vaccinated individuals in areas under Phase 1 of the national recovery plan (NRP).

However, inter-district and interstate travel remains banned according to SOPs released by the National Security Council (MKN).

This comes after the government earlier decided to allow dine-in and reopen 11 economic sectors for fully vaccinated individuals in states under Phase 1.

Don’t abuse privileges, Noor Hisham tells fully vaccinated

Fully vaccinated individuals should not abuse the relaxation in restrictions granted to them, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said.

In a tweet, he warned that abusing the newly-announced privileges — such as dining-in, maximum capacity in a car, and travelling beyond 10km — could see the country’s efforts in battling the Covid-19 pandemic go to waste.

Malaysia reaches milestone in vaccination drive

More than half of the Malaysian adult population were fully vaccinated as of Aug 18.

In a Facebook post, the Covid-19 vaccine supply access guarantee special committee (JKJAV) said 50.2% of adults, or 11,743,096, have been fully vaccinated.

Fortnightly Covid-19 tests now mandatory for company staff

Company employees who are present at their office premises are required to undergo fortnightly RTK-Antigen tests approved by the health ministry.

It can be done through approved self-test kits or at health facilities, the international trade and industry ministry (Miti) said.

DAP man slams ‘incompetent’ Perak health exco

Perak health exco Mohd Akmal Kamarudin’s competence was called into question by a DAP representative following the surge in the number of Covid-19 cases reported daily in the state.

In a Twitter thread, Pasir Pinji assemblyman Howard Lee said that with cases failing to subside, it is alarming that more has not been done to curb infections in the state. - FMT