COVID-19: New Cases Still On The Rise

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama) -- Another 4,098 new COVID-19 cases were reported nationwide yesterday with Kuala Lumpur accounting for the highest number at 1,485, followed by Selangor (1,069).

With this, Malaysia’s active caseload has shot up to 38,913 while total cases have swelled to 4,608,768.

The daily case numbers are expected to continue rising with the emergence of a new wave of infections. The Ministry of Health (MOH) has already detected the presence of the Omicron BA.5 sub-variant which is said to be easily transmissible.

In fact, World Health Organisation director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, during a COVID-19 media briefing in Geneva, Switzerland, on July 12, said “new waves of the virus demonstrate again that COVID-19 is nowhere near over”.  

According to him, sub-variants of Omicron, like BA.4 and BA.5, continue to drive waves of cases, hospitalisation and death around the world.

“The virus is running freely and countries are not effectively managing the disease burden based on their capacity, in terms of both hospitalisation for acute cases and the expanding number of people with post-COVID-19 condition – often referred to as long-Covid,” he said. 

The increasingly dominant BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants were first detected in South Africa early this year.

Following is the daily breakdown of the new COVID-19 cases reported nationwide during the week under review (July 9-14):

July 9 (2,799), July 10 (3,264), July 11 (2,417), July 12 (2,345), July 13 (3,934) and July 14 (4,098).

 

Following is the daily breakdown of the new COVID-19 cases reported nationwide in the preceding week (July 2-8):

July 2 (2,527), July 3 (2,536), July 4 (1,918), July 5 (2,932), July 6 (3,561), July 7 (4,020) and July 8 (3,589).

 

Based on Worldometer data, Singapore’s new case figures continued to remain high this week as shown below:

July 9 (8,659), July 10 (6,423), July 11 (4,495), July 12 (5,979), July 13 (16,870) and July 14 (11,772).

 

Meanwhile, 2,071 cases of recovery were reported up to 11.59 pm yesterday, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 4,534,019.

Eight fatalities were reported yesterday, bringing Malaysia’s COVID-19 death toll to 35,836.

This week, MOH reported only one new COVID-19 cluster – the Jalan Ipoh Lumut education cluster in Perak Tengah district, Perak, involving 77 positive cases.

Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, MOH has detected a total of 7,026 clusters nationwide. As of yesterday, 12 clusters were still active.

With its total cases at 4,608,768, Malaysia now stood at the 25th spot in the list of 228 countries and territories affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Just ahead of Malaysia is North Korea with 4,769,900 cases and Ukraine (5,019,125 cases).

According to the latest Worldometer data, France reported the highest number of new infections yesterday at 119,285, followed by Italy (107,122) and the United States (95,400). The United States has the highest death toll at 1,048,232.

MOH’s COVIDNOW data as of 11.59 pm yesterday showed that out of the 38,913 active cases, 37,495 were being quarantined at home. Twenty-six cases (0.1 percent) were placed at COVID-19 quarantine and treatment centres while 1,339 cases (3.4 percent) required hospital admissions. Fifty-three cases were in the intensive care unit (ICU), with 35 of them requiring breathing assistance.  

For the record, COVID-19 infections are classified into five categories: Category 1 asymptomatic; Category 2 mild symptoms; Category 3 symptomatic with lung inflammation; Category 4 symptomatic with lung inflammation and requiring oxygen support; and Category 5 critical symptoms and requiring ICU admission.

 

Recovered cases: July 9 (2,666), July 10 (2,703), July 11 (2,536), July 12 (2,384), July 13 (2,747) and July 14 (2,071).

Active cases: July 9 (35,323), July 10 (35,882), July 11 (35,758), July 12 (35,716), July 13 (36,894) and July 14 (38,913).

Kuala Lumpur 1,485; Selangor 1,069; Negeri Sembilan 276; Perak 274; Sabah 181; Penang 160; Melaka 138 (plus four imported cases); Kedah 99; Putrajaya 95; Johor 93 (plus one imported case); Pahang 80; Kelantan 56; Sarawak 43; Terengganu 24; Perlis (plus 11 impo); and Labuan nine.

 

July 9 – new cases 2,799; cumulative cases 4,592,710; imported cases two;

July 10 – new cases 3,264; cumulative cases 4,595,974; imported cases five;

July 11 – new cases 2,427; cumulative cases 4,598,391; imported cases four;

July 12 – new cases 2,345; cumulative cases 4,600,736; imported cases three;

July 13 – new cases 3,934; cumulative cases 4,604,670; imported cases seven;

July 14 – new cases 4,098; cumulative cases 4,608,768; imported cases five.

 

July 9 – eight (brought-in-dead or BID 0); July 10 – two (BID 0); July 11 – five (BID two), July 12 – three (BID one), July 13 – nine (BID two) and July 14 – eight (BID two). 

(BID refers to deaths that occur outside health facilities and the bodies concerned test positive for COVID-19 after RT-PCR tests are conducted.)

 

Globally, a total of 565,319,719 COVID-19 cases have been reported (cases totalled 559,664,296 last Friday). The death toll now stands at 6,382,249 (6,371,439 last Friday). A total of 536,873,729 cases have recovered (532,694,610 last Friday).

The top 10 nations in the list of 228 countries/territories affected by the COVID-19 pandemic are the United States, India, Brazil, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, South Korea, Russia and Turkiye. 

The breakdown of cases (+ new daily cases) is as follows:

United States 91,060,225 (+95,400)

India 43,704,925 (+14,936)

Brazil 33,142,158 (+65,379)

France 32,142,158 (+119,285)

Germany 29,460,249 (+not available)

United Kingdom 23,075,360 (+not available)

Italy 19,887,543 (+107,122)

South Korea 18,641,278 (+39,169)

Russia 18,476,477 (+4,238)

Turkiye 15,297,539 (+not available)

 

In Southeast Asia – besides Malaysia – Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Brunei are among the 127 countries that have reported over 100,000 COVID-19 cases.

The breakdown (+ new daily cases) is as follows:

Vietnam at 12th spot – 10,758,189 (+932)

Indonesia at 20th spot – 6,123,753 (+3,584)

Malaysia at 25th spot – 4,608,768 (+4,098)

Thailand at 27th spot – 4,553,181 (+2,257)

Philippines at 37th spot – 3,725,382 (+2,371)

Singapore at 51st spot – 1,569,420 (+11,772)

Myanmar at 83rd spot – 613,784 (+11)

Laos at 111th spot – 210,433 (+32)

Brunei at 118th spot – 179,759 (+1,492) 

Cambodia at 125th spot – 136,407 (+17)

 

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-- The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) 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 breached the one million mark on July 25, 2021, with 1,013,438 cases. The first time daily cases reached the five-digit level was on July 13, 2021, 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 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 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 entered 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 Rema Nambiar

BERNAMA