COVID-19 admissions up 6.3 pct last week - Health DG

KUALA LUMPUR: Admissions of COVID-19 patients to health facilities per 100,000 population increased 6.3 per cent in the fourth epidemiological week 2023 (ME 4/2023) from Jan 22 to 28 compared to the previous week.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said admissions of categories one and two patients to public hospitals per 100,000 population rose by 20 per cent from ME 3/2023, while no changes were reported for categories three, four and five.

"The utilisation rates of non-critical and ICU beds also decreased by one per cent respectively in ME 4/2023," he said in a statement today.

He said there was a dropped in positive cases monitored by COVID-19 Assessment Centres (CAC) nationwide, but the number of cases referred by CAC to hospitals increased by 84.6 per cent.

Malaysia's cumulative COVID-19 infections from Jan 25, 2020 to ME4/2023 stood at 5,035,871, while cumulative recoveries were 4,989,819 cases.

He added that the cumulative figure for COVID-19 fatalities was 36,940 cases, and the total clusters were 7,170, with five active clusters.

As for ME4/2023, the number of recoveries dropped by 35.3 per cent (2,088 to 1,350 cases), new infections dropped by 8.5 per cent (2,379 to 2,177 cases), while COVID-19 fatalities also dropped by 66.7 per cent (24 to eight cases).

The infectivity rate (Rt) in ME4/2023 was 0.82, he said.

Meanwhile, the surveillance at sentinel locations nationwide found 19 samples of Influenza-like Illness (ILI) to be COVID-19 positive, while no samples of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) tested positive for COVID-19.

He said the Health Ministry would continue to monitor the development of infections in the country and abroad through information obtained from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the authorities of regional countries, in addition to ensuring that appropriate prevention and control measures are implemented continuously.

-- BERNAMA