Covid-19 cases - Malaysia 10th highest in the world yesterday

 

Malaysia was tenth in the world yesterday in terms of Covid-19 cases reported that day, at least for countries for which data is available.

This is according to data compiled by the website Our World in Data.

India is still in the lead yesterday with 208,921 cases reported yesterday, followed by Brazil (73,453), Argentina (24,601), the United States (22,756), Colombia (21,181), Iran (11,873), Turkey (9,375), Nepal (8,387), and Russia (7,762).

Malaysia ranks just below Russia with 7,289 cases yesterday – a new record for the country at the time that has since been surpassed by today’s numbers.

Meanwhile, the countries that are just below Malaysia include Peru (6,966), Sweden (6,034), and Bolivia (5,696).

The dataset is not yet complete and is still continually updated.

However, as of writing, only a handful of countries for which yesterday’s data is not yet available have recently reported thousands of cases or more.

These include Jordan that recently reported over 5,000 cases, and South Africa that recently reported more than 2,000.

The situation is more muddled when adjusted for population size, as most of the top rankings are dominated by small countries and microstates that have very small populations.

Nevertheless, Malaysia with its estimated population of 32 million has found itself in the 23rd place with 225.21 cases per million population.

This places Malaysia below the likes of Latvia (230.62 cases per million) and Greece (230.45 cases per million), but above Chile (217.21 per million) and Peru (211.27 per million).

For comparison, India has confirmed 151.39 cases per million population as of yesterday, placing it 31st in the rankings.

It is unclear how the rankings for confirmed Covid-19 cases per million population may change once more data becomes available.

However, it should be noted that testing capacity can vary significantly from country to country, especially during large outbreaks.

One way to gauge this is by looking at what proportion of tests are returning a positive result. If the proportion is high, it suggests the amount of testing being done is not keeping pace with the outbreak and the actual number of cases could be far higher than the official figures.

Among countries in the top 10 for new cases reported yesterday, for which recent testing data is available, Malaysia is in the middle of the pack with a 6 percent positivity rate.

It is outperformed by Turkey (4.4 percent), the US (3.5 percent), and Russia (2.7 percent), based on the latest available data.

India’s test positivity rate is 12.2 percent, but Colombia (28.8 percent), Argentina (32.2 percent), and Nepal (40 percent) are even worse. This means although the official number of Covid-19 cases in these countries are very high, the actual figure is likely far higher.

- Mkini