COVID-19 | Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin today urged the public to play their role and help control the Omicron wave and hinted that they might be able to enjoy the Hari Raya Aidilfitri holiday this May if successful.
"I hope we can stabilise this pandemic in one or two months. Other countries take about a month or two before they see a decline in the Omicron wave in their country.
"If we play our role, get a booster dose and encourage our children to get vaccinated. Insya Allah, if the number of Omicron cases goes down, then Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri," he said at a press conference today.
According to the minister, based on mathematical models by epidemiologists and statisticians, they are expecting to see the Omicron wave peaking some time towards the end of March.
Muslims will be starting their fasting month Ramadan in early April, before celebrating Aidilfitri on either May 2 or 3.
Khairy said the Health Ministry is confident that it will be able to manage the Omicron wave well, despite expecting that the number of cases will see a spike soon.
He added that the healthcare system has been prepared to face the upcoming surge of Covid-19 cases, including having an adequate number of hospital beds as well as contingencies.
"I would like to inform you about the hospital beds utilisation rate so as to give the public some confidence. Although the number of Covid-19 cases is rising and will continue to rise, as long as our healthcare system is not collapsed, MOH believes that we will continue to be able to manage this Omicron wave.
"Today, of 9,776 hospital beds for Covid-19 cases, 3,233 beds or 33 percent are in use. It is an increase of 14 percent compared to the previous week, but what we are seeing with Omicron is that the length of hospitalisation is not as long as what we saw during the Delta wave.
"While for ICU beds, 116 out of 850 beds are utilised as of today. It is 14 percent utilisation, down 1 percent compared to last week," he told a press conference today.
Khairy said there are 120 Covid-19 hospitals ready to receive cases, including nine which are dedicated for the pandemic while 111 others are hybrid hospitals (accept both Covid and non-Covid cases).
Omicron less severe, vaccines effective
Comparing the severity of symptoms between Omicron and Delta, Khairy said the health authority recorded nine deaths yesterday when Malaysia saw the number of daily Covid-19 cases in the country again surpassing 10,000.
The number of deaths was 109 on Oct 2, which was the last time it had gone past five figures.
"On Oct 2, there were 404 Covid-19 patients who were admitted in the intensive care unit. Yesterday, it was only 66.
"This comparison is important because it shows that vaccination has successfully lessened symptoms due to Covid-19."
Khairy said MOH had tried their best to postpone the Omicron wave from entering Malaysia through several tactics, including postponing umrah activities, border control, and encouraging vaccination.
They expect that with the vaccination programme for children aged 5 to 11 has kickstarted, it would further help Malaysia to face the Omicron wave.
"We have tried our best to postpone Omicron as much as possible. And, of course, due to the reopening of the economic sector, festive seasons and return of travellers from overseas, we are no longer able to delay the wave.
"But we feel that we are better prepared, better protected and we bought enough time for half of our adults to be vaccinated and for the children (vaccination) programme to start," he said. - Mkini
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