COVID-19: New cases on the rise, national R-naught at 0.99

THE Health Ministry reported 3,684 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday (Jan 13), an increase from the 3,198 cases recorded the day before. 

This brings the cumulative infections in the country to 2,798,917. 

In a statement, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that of the new COVID-19 cases, 3,650 (99.1%) were mild and asymptomatic infections in Categories one and two, while the remaining 34 (0.9%) were from Categories three, four and five. 

Categories one and two refer to patients with mild symptoms or none at all, category three refers to patients with pneumonia, while patients in categories four and five require oxygen and need ventilators, respectively. 

As of yesterday, the national R-naught for COVID-19 is 0.99 with five states recording an R-naught of over 1.00 – Sabah (1.08), Putrajaya (1.08), Kuala Lumpur (1.08), Negri Sembilan (1.02) and Melaka (1.02). 

An R-naught of 1.00 suggests an outbreak that has plateaued, while a figure above that indicates an outbreak that is accelerating its growth. 

Meanwhile, according to the CovidNow website, 3,292 patients have recovered, bringing the total to 2,726,891. 

There were 12 deaths, with no brought in dead (BID) cases recorded for the day, thus bringing the death tally to 31,750. 

Of the current cases, 198 cases required treatment in intensive care units (ICU) and 93 cases needed respiratory assistance. – Jan 14, 2022 

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