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strong>By Melati Mohd Ariff
This is Bernama’s weekly roundup on COVID-19 and related matters in Malaysia and globally from July 16 to noon today.
In Malaysia, cases numbers have exceeded 4.64 million and globally, the virus has infected more than 572 million people and caused over 6.39 million deaths. Some 542 million patients have so far recovered from the virus.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which is now in its third year, has affected 228 countries and territories.
KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama) – The number of new daily COVID-19 cases in the country for the six-day week (July 16 to July 21) surged to 26,237 cases with cases breaching the 5,000-mark on July 16 and July 20.
This is in comparison with 18,857 cases recorded for the same period from July 9 to July 14.
Yesterday’s new cases of 4,587 brought the nation’s COVID-19 active cases to 47,409 with 96.7 per cent (45,856 cases) undergoing home quarantine while cumulative cases stood at 4,640,235.
According to COVIDNOW data from the Ministry of Health (MOH), Kuala Lumpur took the top spot with the highest daily cases at 1,408, followed by Selangor with 1,399 cases.
Seven (7) states with three-digit cases are Perak (360), Negeri Sembilan Sembilan (285), Sabah (267), Penang (237), Johor 128 (+2), Kedah (109) and Melaka (100).
States with two-digit numbers are Putrajaya (65), Sarawak (64), Kelantan (57), Pahang (41), Terengganu (35), Labuan (17) and Perlis (13).
Throughout July to date, new daily COVID-19 cases breached the 5,000-mark thrice, namely on July 15 (5,230), July 16 (5,047) and July 20 (5,685).
The last time the figure reached 5,000 was on April 23 with 5,624 cases.
Following are new daily COVID-19 cases during the week compiled by Bernama from July 16 to July 21, 2022:-
July 16 (5,047), July 17 (3,936), July 18 (3,080), July 19 (3,902), July 20 (5,685) and July 21 (4,587).
New COVID-19 cases during the week compiled by Bernama (July 9 to July 15):
July 9 (2,799), July 10 (3,264), July 11 (2,417), July 12 (2,345), July 13 (3,934), July 14 (4,098) and July 15 (5,230).
Singapore continues to record high new daily COVID-19 cases during the week, based on Worldometer data below:
July 16 (9,153), July 17 (6,947), July 18 (6,227), July 19 (13,794), July 20 (10,295) and July 21 (9,749).
Meanwhile, a total of 2,652 recovered COVID-19 cases were reported as of 11:59 pm on July 21, bringing the cumulative figure to 4,556,938 cases.
A total of 10 more deaths among COVID-19 patients were reported yesterday, bringing total fatalities since the pandemic hit the country to date to 35,888.
During the week compiled by Bernama, MOH reported (3) new clusters namely two (2) in Selangor (July 19) and one (1) in Kuala Lumpur (July 21).
Overall, 7,029 clusters were detected since the COVID-10 outbreak more than two years ago. As of July 21, 14 clusters were still active.
With a cumulative figure of 4,640,235 cases, Malaysia is now ranked 26th in the list of 228 nations/territories struck by the COVID-19 pandemic. Ahead of Malaysia is Austria (4,658,125) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) with 4,772,290 cases.
According to Worldometer, of the list of 228 nations, Japan recorded the highest number of new daily infections with 135,239 cases followed by the United States (US) with 100,711 cases.
On COVID-19 fatalities, the US reported the highest deaths with 1,051,235 cases.
Meanwhile, in addition to the highly transmissible sub-variant BA.5 of the Omicron strain, another sub-variant which sparked concern is BA.2.75 - nicknamed ‘Centaurus’ - which has to date been detected in 10 countries including the United Kingdom (UK), US, Australia, Germany and Canada.
‘Centaurus’ was first detected in India in early May 2022. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) designated it a “variant under monitoring” on July 7 while the World Health Organisation (WHO) was reported to be monitoring the new variant.
Meanwhile, COVIDNOW MOH data as of 11:59 pm on July 21 showed 45,856 cases (96.7 per cent) were quarantined at home out of 47,409 active cases reported.
A total of 39 cases (0.1 per cent) were at the COVID-19 Integrated Quarantine and Treatment Centre (PKRC); 1,451 cases (3.1 per cent) at hospitals; 31 cases (0.1 per cent) at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) without respiratory assistance (ABP) while 32 cases (0.1 per cent) at the ICU with ABP.
For the record, there were five categories of COVID-19 infections.
According to MOH, Category 1 is for patients who are asymptomatic; category 2 is for those with mild symptoms; category 3 is for patients with pneumonia; category 4 is for patients needing oxygen assistance and category 5 is for critical cases requiring ventilators.
COVID-19 SCENARIO IN MALAYSIA
Recovered cases:-
July 16 (3,770), July 17 (3,899), July 18 (3,399), July 19 (2,935), July 20 (3,337) and July 21 (2,652).
* cumulative recovered cases as of yesterday stood at 4,556,938.
Active cases with probable infection:-
July 16 (42,481), July 17 (42,511), July 18 (42,185), July 19 (43,144), July 20 (45,484) and July 21 (47,409).
Breakdown of new daily cases (4,587) :-
*state-by-state, as of 11:59 pm yesterday
* (+imported cases)
Latest Status of COVID-19 in Malaysia. New Cases by States. Source: MOH
Four-digit - Kuala Lumpur 1,408 (+0) and Selangor 1,399 (+0).
Three-digit - Perak 358 (+2), Negeri Sembilan 282 (+3), Sabah 267 (+0), Penang 237 (+0), Johor 128 (+2), Kedah 109 (+0) and Melaka 99
Two-digit - Putrajaya 65 (+0), Sarawak 64 (+0), Kelantan 57 (+0), Pahang 39 (+2), Terengganu 34 (+1), Labuan 17 (+0) and Perlis 13 (+0).
New Record cases, imported cases, local transmission:
July 16 – New cases 5,047; Cumulative cases 4,619,045 ; Imported cases 3;
July 17 – New cases 3,936 ; Cumulative cases 4,622,981 ; Imported cases 1;
July 18 – New cases 3,080 ; Cumulative cases 4,626,061 ; Imported cases 1;
July 19 – New cases 3,902 ; Cumulative cases 4,629,963 ; Imported cases 4;
July 20 – New cases 5,685 ; Cumulative cases 4,635,648; Imported cases 2;
July 21 – New cases 4,587; Cumulative cases 4,640,235; Imported cases 11.
Breakdown in new clusters is as follows:-
July 16 – no cluster ;
July 17 - no cluster
July 18 – no cluster
July 19 - 2 (high risk group 1 and education 1);
• High Risk (Lorong Haji Mughni 2, Klang, Selangor Cluster), 24 positive cases;
• Education ( Jalan 17/19, Petaling, Selangor Cluster), 5 positive cases.
July 20 – no cluster
July 21 - 1 (education 1)
• Education (Jalan Yahya 6, Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur Cluster), 20 positive cases.
Overall, MOH has detected 7,029 clusters since COVID-19 hit the nation more than two years ago. As of yesterday (July 21), 14 clusters were still active.
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.
July 16 -4 (BID 1), July 17 - 7 (BID 1 ),July 18 - 7 (BID 3 ), July 19 - 8 (BID 1 ), July 20 - 8 (BID 5) and July 21 - 10 (BID 5 ).
*Total fatalities as of yesterday stood at 35,888.
GLOBAL COVID-19 STATISTICS
Current Worldwide Statistics on COVID-19 and COVID-19 Case Summary in Malaysia. worldometers.info/coronavirus
According to Worldometer, total COVID-19 cases globally now stood at 572,508,191 cases compared to 566,317,183 during the previous week with 6,398,234 fatalities (6,385,778 deaths previously). A total of 542,618,431 cases were reported as against 537,645,427 the previous week.
Some 228 countries are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and those in the top 10 of the list are the US, India, Brazil, France, Germany, UK, Italy, South Korea, Russia and Turkiye.
The breakdown of the top 10 nations (+ new record daily cases) is as follows:
US 91,942,744 (+100,711)
India 43,842,235 (+17,050)
Brazil 33,506,282 (+51,988)
France 33,339,350 (+80,869)
Germany 30,131,303 (+no information)
UK 23,212,565 (+no information)
Italy 20,467,349 (+80,653)
South Korea 19,009,080 (+71,109)
Russia 18,511,120 (+6,391)
Turkiye 15,524,071 (+no information)
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 in the 12th spot - 10,764,986 (+1,292)
Indonesia in the 20th spot - 6,154,494 (+5,410)
Malaysia in the 25th spot - 4,640,235 (+4,587)
Thailand in the 27th spot - 4,568,461 (+2,607)
Philippines in the 38th spot - 3,741,987 (+2,828)
Singapore in the 49th spot - 1,636,109 (+9,749)
Myanmar in the 83rd spot - 613,887 (+16)
Laos in the 111th spot - 210,676 (+38)
Brunei in the 115th spot - 191,774 (+1,871)
Cambodia in the 125th spot 125 - 136,532 (+20)
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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
BERNAMA
