Warning of ‘early signs’, DG says now is time to prevent Covid-19 spike

 

COVID-19 | After months of improvement, Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has raised concern that the domestic Covid-19 situation may worsen yet again.

With interstate travel now allowed, the top official urged for better compliance with standard operating procedures (SOPs) and for more to take up booster vaccination jabs.

“We see that the infectivity rate has risen to 1.00.

“This means cases are plateauing, they are not going down...

“These are early signs that cases may spike. They have not risen yet but they might. We are in a plateau phase now,” he said in a broadcasted press conference this evening.

Noor Hisham noted that the recent rise in cases came several weeks after the interstate travel ban was lifted for fully vaccinated individuals on Oct 11.

He compared this to the spike in infections experienced earlier this year.

“Just like before, we saw a trend of rising cases five to six weeks after interstate travel was allowed on Dec 7, 2020,” he said.

Malaysia has been recording more than 6,000 fresh new infections over the past three days.

Today’s 6,517 cases mark the highest number in the past three weeks.

In particular, cases in Kelantan have surged in recent days.

Get boosters

As vaccine immunity wanes, Noor Hisham encouraged all to come forward for booster jabs.

He also reminded the public against gathering in tight spaces or having close-range conversations.

“We need to take active steps to ensure Covid-19 cases do not suddenly rise.

“This includes ramping up booster vaccination jabs and (improving) SOP compliance.

“We are using a two-pronged method - increasing vaccination coverage including by using booster doses plus SOP compliance. This is important to prevent us from getting infected,” he stressed.

Earlier this week, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said booster jab appointments were experiencing no-shows of about 40 percent.

He warned that hospital admissions will rise if the booster jab take-up remains low.

The minister thus encouraged the public to show up for their booster jab appointments.

Pfizer booster Covid-19 vaccination shots are currently being offered to those who are fully vaccinated with either Pfizer or Sinovac.

The elderly - aged 60 and above - are being prioritised before the rollout is expanded to the rest of the population. - Mkini