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span style="font-size:14px">By Melati Mohd Ariff
This is Bernama’s weekly roundup on COVID-19 and related matters in Malaysia and globally from May 14 till noon today
In Malaysia cases numbers have exceeded 4.48 million and globally, the virus has infected more than 525 million people and caused over 6.2 million deaths. Some 495 million COVID-19 patients have so far recovered from the virus.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which is now in its third year, has affected 227 countries and territories. The latest in the list of affected nations is Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DRPK).
KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama) – New daily COVID-19 caseloads saw a slight decline for six days this week (May 14 to May 19) with 11,919 cases reported compared to 15,107 previously (May 7 to May 12).
The downtrend brought relief to Malaysians given the rise in new daily cases during the first week of Hari Raya Aidilfitri starting May 4 (1,054) with the highest figure of 3,410 cases reported on May 12.
Yesterday (May 19), new daily COVID-19 cases stood at 2,124. On May 3, new daily caseloads stood at 922, the lowest for this year.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has congratulated the people of Malaysia on their good behaviour in the “transition to endemic” phase.
This also proved that the people had the capability to make the transition a success while still complying with the standard operating procedure (SOP) to curb COVID-19, he told reporters here yesterday.
Starting April 1, Malaysia entered its transition to endemic phase of COVID-19 as an exit strategy that allows Malaysians to return to near-normal life after battling the pandemic for nearly two years.
Air of festivity at the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration at Dewan Merdeka, World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur (WTCKL). --fotoBERNAMA (2022) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
For this month (May 1 to May 19), only 1 new cluster was recorded, that is on May 11 involving a detention centre at Serian, Sarawak (Dti Semuja 4 Cluster).
Yesterday’s new caseload of 2,124 brought Malaysia’s cumulative COVID-19 cases to 4,485,419.
Recovered COVID-19 patients as of 11.59 pm on May 19 stood at 29,789, bringing the total recoveries to 4,419,997.
Following is the new daily COVID-19 cases for the week compiled by Bernama (May 14 to May 19):
May 14 (2,373), 15 May 15 (2,239), May 16 (1,697), May 17 (1,469), May 18 (2,017) and May 19 (2,124).
Buddhist worshippers celebrating Wesak Day at the Fo Guang Shan Hsing Ma Buddhist Temple in Johor Bahru. --fotoBERNAMA (2022) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
With a cumulative figure of 4,485,419 Malaysia is now ranked 23rd in the list of 227 nations/territories struck by the COVID-19 pandemic. Ahead of Malaysia is Ukraine (5,009,301) and Mexico (5,752,441).
The latest Worldometer data showed that among the list of 227 nations, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) recorded the highest new daily cases of 262,280 followed by the United States (88,130) and Germany (56,446).
DPRK is the latest to be listed among the the nations affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and as of last night, it took the 42nd spot with a cumulative figure of 1,978,230. On Tuesday (May 16), it reported daily caseloads of 392,930.
In terms of fatalities, the United States (US) recorded the highest figure of 1,028,298 yesterday.
Meanwhile, MOH’s COVIDNOW data as of 11.59 pm yesterday showed active COVID-19 cases stood at 29,789 and of the total, 28,569 (95.9 per cent) were quarantined at home.
A total of 20 cases (0.1 per cent) were at the COVID-19 Integrated Quarantine and Treatment Centre (PKRC); 1,165 cases (3.9 per cent) at hospitals; 13 cases (0.0 per cent) at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) without respiratory assistance (APB) while 22 cases (0.1 per cent) at the ICU with ABP.
The Kukup International Ferry Terminal (TFAK) in Pontian, Johor became operational after the closure of the national border between Malaysia and Indonesia on May 19, 2020. --fotoBERNAMA (2022) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Malaysia's COVID-19 infectivity rate or Ro/Rt value during the week is as follows:
*the lowest level at 0.52 was reported on May 6.
*once again exceeded 1.00 with 1.05 on May 11.
May 14 (1.16), May 15 (1.10), May 16 (1.04), May 17 (0.97), May 18 (0.91) and May 19 (0.87).
The state with the highest Ro/Rt on May 19 was Putrajaya (1.14) followed by Kuala Lumpur (1.10) and Sabah (1.08).
The R-Naught or R0/Rt value of a virus indicates the infectivity rate or the number of new infections generated by each case. An R0 value of 0.5 would be needed to flatten this deadly virus’ infection curve.
COVID-19 SCENARIO IN MALAYSIA
Malaysian Muslim Consumers' Association (PPIM) activist leader Datuk Nadzim Johan (centre) handing over a memorandum of protest following the government’s signing of an International Pandemic Agreement at the Health Ministry in Putrajaya. --fotoBERNAMA (2022) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Recovered cases:-
May 14 (1,340), May 15 (1,263), May 16 (1,548), May 17(1,836), May 18 (2,548) and May 19 (2,303).
* cumulative recoveries as of May 19 stood at 4,419,997
Active cases with probable infection:-
May 14 (29,762), May 15 (30,735), May 16 (30,879), May 17 (30,509), May 18 (29,971) and May 19 (29,789).
The breakdown in new daily cases (2,124):-
Latest Status of COVID-19 in Malaysia. New Cases by States. Source: MOH
*state-by-state as of 11.59 pm on May 19
* (+imported cases)
Three-digit new daily cases - Melaka 111 (+0), Perak 125 (+0), Penang 114 (+0), Selangor 892 (+0) and Kuala Lumpur 410 (+1).
Two-digit new daily cases - Johor 62 (+0), Kedah 70 (+0), Kelantan 17 (+0), Negeri Sembilan 98 (+0), Pahang 40 (+0), Sabah 56 (+0), Sarawak 58 (+0), Terengganu 11 (+0), and Putrajaya 46 (+0).
One-digit new daily cases - Perlis 6 (+0) and Labuan 7 (+0).
New record cases, imported cases, local transmission:
May 14 – New cases: 2,373 cases; Cumulative: 4,475,873; Imported cases: 3 cases.
May 15 – New cases: 2,239 cases; Cumulative: 4,478,112; Imported cases: 3 cases.
May 16 – New cases: 1,697 cases; Cumulative: 4,479,809 cases; Imported cases: 0 case.
May 17 – New cases: 1,469 kes; Cumulative: 4,481,278 cases; Imported cases: 3 cases.
May 18 – New cases: 2,017 cases; Cumulative: 4,483,295 cases; Imported cases: 4 cases.
May 19 – New cases: 2,124 cases; Cumulative: 4,485,419 cases; Imported cases: 1 case.
Meanwhile, active clusters dropped to 39 as of yesterday and overall, 7,011 clusters were detected. During the week compiled by Bernama, NO new cluster has been detected.
New record cases and the breakdown of clusters:-
May 14 – No cluster
May 15 – No cluster
May 16 – No cluster
May 17 – No cluster
May 18 – No cluster
May 19 – No cluster
The daily breakdown in fatalities is as follows:
*BID = Brought-in-Dead are cases outside the hospital and those brought to the hospital's forensic department; positive COVID-19 cases after PT PCR tests conducted.
May 14 - 5 (BID 1), 15 May 15 - 3 (BID 0 ), May 16 - 5 (BID 1 ), May 17 - 3 (BID 2 ), May 18 - 7 (BID 3) and May 19 - 3 (BID 2).
*Total fatalities as of yesterday stood at 35,633 cases.
GLOBAL COVID-19 STATISTICS
Current Worldwide Statistics on COVID-19 and COVID-19 Case Summary in Malaysia. worldometers.info/coronavirus
According to the latest global figures from Worldometer, total COVID-19 cases for the week stood at 525,864,368 compared to 520,289,101 previously with 6,297,053 fatalities from 6,286,519 previously. Recovered patients stood at 495,677,224 during the week as against 474,909,980 the previous week.
Some 227 countries are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and those in the top 10 of the list are the United States (US), India, Brazil, France, Germany, the United Kingdom (UK) , Russia, South Korea, Italy and Turkey. The latest in the list is Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The breakdown of the top 10 nations (+ new record daily cases) is as follows:
US 84,799,021 (+88,130);
India 43,131,135 (+1,572);
Brazil 30,752,226 (+10,415);
France 29,291,146 (+27,842);
Germany 26,013,283 (+56,446);
UK 22,232,377 (+4,882);
Russia 18,278,617 (+4,927);
South Korea 17,889,849 (+28,105);
Italy 17,178,199 (+30,310);
Turkey 15,060,112 (+1,485).
Besides Malaysia, the Southeast Asian nations namely Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Brunei, have joined the list of 127 countries with more than 100,000 COVID-19 cases.
The cumulative breakdown of COVID-19 cases (+new daily cases) is as follows:-
Vietnam 12th spot - 10,704,524 (+1,716);
Indonesia 19th spot - 6,051,850 (+318);
Malaysia 23rd spot - 4,485,419 (+2,124);
Thailand 24th spot - 4,394,915 (+6,305);
Philippines 32nd spot - 3,688,295 (+195);
Singapore 52nd spot - 1,258,691 (+4,578);
Myanmar 80th spot - 613,186 (+4);
Laos 111th spot - 209,607(+54);
Brunei 122nd spot - 145,783 (+262) and
Cambodia 124th spot - 136,262 (no information).
COVID-19 BACKGROUND
-- The World Health Organisation (WHO)’s China country office was informed of cases of pneumonia that were detected in Wuhan on Dec 31, 2019. On Jan 7, 2020 the Chinese authorities confirmed that the newly detected novel coronavirus can be transmitted from human to human.
-- Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-COV).
-- A study of the virus’ genetic sequence suggested similarities to that seen in snakes and bats. China health officials identified the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan as the source of the transmission of the coronavirus.
-- On Feb 11, 2020, WHO announced the official name of the virus, COVID-19, which is an acronym for coronavirus 2019 – CO stands for corona, VI for virus and D for disease.
-- On Jan 30, 2020, WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak as a global emergency and on March 11, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic.
-- WHO has described the COVID-19 outbreak as much more dangerous than the A H1N1 Influenza, also known as Swine Flu.
-- Swine Flu, which occurred between January 2009 and August 2010, infected more than 1.6 million people and caused 18,449 fatalities. It was first detected in Mexico and later in the United States in March 2009.
-- COVID-19 was detected in Malaysia on Jan 25, 2020, when three Chinese citizens, who had entered Malaysia through Johore from Singapore on Jan 23, were tested positive for the disease.
-- New variants of the COVID-19 coronavirus have since emerged in the United Kingdom (identified as B117) in September 2020, South Africa (501Y.V2) in October 2020 and India (B.1.617), also in October 2020.
-- Cumulatively, Malaysia's COVID-19 cases have breached the one million mark as on July 25, with 1,013,438 cases. The first time daily cases reached the five-digit level was on July 13 with 11,079 cases.
-- WHO on Nov 26 designated a new variant of COVID-19, named Omicron, a variant of concern. It was first detected in Gauteng Province, South Africa.
-- Scientists at the IHU have detected a new variant named B.1.640.2 at end-November last year, with 46 mutations on its spike protein and nicknamed it IHU.
-- Meanwhile, Israel has confirmed its first case of an individual infected with 'Flurona', a term coined to describe the condition of being infected with COVID-19 and the seasonal flu simultaneously. (Jan 2, 2022).
-- April 1, 2022 – Malaysia enters the transition to endemic phase of COVID-19 as an exit strategy that allows Malaysians to return to normalcy after almost two years of battling COVID-19.
-- May 1, 2022 – On April 27, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced the easing of several restrictions, which include the lifting of the requirement for check-ins on MySejahtera effective May 1.
Translated by Salbiah Said
