MCO day 408: Covid-19 worsening with 3,332 new daily cases

PUTRAJAYA, 29 April 2021:

Projections by the Health Ministry of Covid-19 infections surging across Malaysia is being proven as another 3,332 new cases were reported today, raising the overall tally to 404,925.

Should the current trend of daily additions to new Covid-19 cases continue, Malaysia will reach the 500,000 infections mark by end-May.

With a Malaysian among the nine imported cases, local transmissions involved 3,099 citizens (93.3%) and 224 foreigners.

Selangor posted the highest tally today with 1,083 infections, followed by Sarawak (522), Kelantan (401), Kuala Lumpur (359), Johor (207), Penang (158), Sabah (131), Negeri Sembilan (111) and Kedah (105).

Labuan was the only state with no new cases, Perlis had one, Putrajaya with nine and the four remaining states reported doubled digit new infections.

Worryingly, states with high number of new infections did NOT detect the bulk of them in identified clusters. In Selangor, for example, only 36 positive cases came from clusters while 705 came from screening of close contacts and 342 from other screenings.

The trend was similar in Sarawak (44 from clusters; 404, 70 from screenings), Kelantan (99; 233,69) and Kuala Lumpur (4; 205, 141 plus nine imported cases). The dominance of close contacts (light blue) in spurring new Covid-19 cases can be seen in the pie chart below.

While 1,943 discharges brought total recoveries to 375,340 (92.69%), active cases have risen to 28,093 (6.94%) with 309 patients at intensive care units and 147 needing ventilators.

As 15 more fatalities were recorded – four each in Kelantan and Kuala Lumpur, three in Selangor, two in Sarawak plus one each in Johor and Sabah – the death toll now stands at 1,492.

Another three more education clusters )light blue in chart below) are part of the 12 identified today – in Johor (Jalan Abdul Rahman Andak), Kelantan (Batu Lada) and Sarawak (Tabuan Jaya). There were also two religious clusters in Johor (Kampung Parit Bunga) and Perak (Jalan Pokok Assam).

Perak further had a workplace cluster (Jalan Adika Raja)  while Selangor had two (Jalan RP Tiga and Jalan Tiga Belas – Tiga), the remaining four are community clusters in Kelantan (Kampung Pemanok), Pahang (Raub Jaya), Sarawak (Sileng Dayak) and Selangor (Bukit Rotan).

With four clusters ended today, those active had risen to 378 out of 1,638 identified todate.

As at April 28, MoH said the overall infectivity rate (Rt) stands at 1.13 with Kelantan having the highest Rt at 1.28, followed by Kuala Lumpur (1.26), Terengganu (1.20), Johor (1.19), Melaka (1.18), Selangor (1.16), Kedah (1.15) and Negeri Sembilan (1.10).

While Perlis only had a single case, Labuan had the lowest Rt at 0.94, with next highest being Sabah (0.98) and Penang (0.99). These Rt figures indicates overall that an infected individual is spreading the Covid-19 virus to more than one other person and the uptrend of new cases will be continuing for the foreseeable future.

As an indication of how scary prospects are looking, the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) today revealed most private hospitals, particularly in the Klang Valley, are currently unable to accept any more Covid-19 patients.

President Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh said in a statement all designated Covid19 wards are fully occupied as are isolated intensive care unit beds – due to a sharp increase of such patients over the last 14 days.

“We hope that the public will take this shortage of beds in hospitals seriously and be responsible for making sure the spread is curtailed and all preventive SOPs (standard operation procedures) are adhered to by the public.

“The biggest fear would be if we face a healthcare shutdown because of the non-availability of beds and oxygen treatment for our citizens.”