Trend continues downward throughout MCO Phase 3, says Health DG

By Xavier Kong

HEALTH director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah notes that the trend in cases for Covid-19 in Malaysia has shown a flattening of the curve throughout Phase 3 of the Movement Control Order, placing Malaysia firmly in the recovery stage at this point.

There were 75 new recoveries announced today, bringing the total number of recoveries to 4,032. Dr Noor Hisham also reported 31 new cases, bringing the total number of cases to 5,851. There were 1,719 active transmission cases that are being treated, with 36 being treated in intensive care units, while 17 require ventilator support. Another death was reported, bringing the death toll to 100.

Dr Noor Hisham called for Malaysians to prepare and adapt to the new normal of safe social distancing and avoiding public areas and gatherings as much as possible, considering there is no vaccine for Covid-19 as yet. He advised Malaysians to prepare for the long haul and to develop the new normal as a habit.

There are now 44 laboratories in operation for testing samples, with the current maximum capacity at 16,635. The use of test kits from the Beijing Genomics Institute will allow a further 1,000 tests to be performed daily, while the Malaysian Institute of Medical Research will allow another 5,000. This brings the total to about 22,000 tests per day by next week.

“Compared to China’s Guandao region, which has a population of 110 million and where the capacity is 30,000 samples tested per day, Malaysia is at over 16,000 samples tested per day for a population of 32 million,” noted Dr Noor Hisham.

The antigen rapid test kits are also expected to arrive by next week at the latest, which would allow point-of-care testing, and provide results within 45 minutes. This would increase Malaysia’s rate of detection, where medical personnel will be tested every two weeks to ensure they are not infected.

Dr Noor Hisham reiterated that it is safest to stay at home, which will help to bring down the number of active transmission cases. He also called for all those with symptoms to step forward for testing, especially if they believe there was close contact with a positive case. – April 28, 2020