KUALA LUMPUR:This week, Sabah continued to be the major contributor to daily new COVID-19 infections in Malaysia where total case numbers have exceeded 36,000 some 10 months after the pandemic hit the nation.

With daily new cases during the week under review hovering between 600 and 1,000, they exceeded the 1,000 mark yesterday (1,009), Wednesday (1,032) and Tuesday (1,054).

Yesterday, Sabah accounted for 564 of the new cases (55.9 percent of new cases reported yesterday); Wednesday 646 cases (62.6 percent); and Tuesday 678 cases (64.3 percent).

Together with yesterday’s 1,009 cases, Malaysia’s total number of COVID-19 cases now stood at 36,434 and active cases at 10,503.

This week also saw an increase in the number of COVID-19 patients being discharged from the hospital, with the highest number – 1,000 – registered on Saturday (Oct 31).

Over the 24-hour period up to noon yesterday, 839 patients recovered, bringing the total recovered cases to 25,654 (70.4 percent of total cases).

On Wednesday 820 patients recovered, Tuesday 875, Monday 900 and Sunday (Nov 1) 972.

DEATHS, OTHER CASES

After recording fatalities on a daily basis for over a month, no deaths were reported over the weekend (Oct 31 and Nov 1). On Tuesday, however, 12 fatalities – the highest single-day figure since the COVID-19 outbreak started in Malaysia – were recorded, all in Sabah.

Yesterday, six fatalities were reported, bringing the death toll to 277 (0.8 percent of total cases). Five of the deaths occurred in Sabah and one in Kuala Lumpur.

On Wednesday eight fatalities were reported, Tuesday 12, Monday two, and zero on Sunday and Saturday.

Currently, 78 COVID-19 patients are being treated in the intensive care unit with 28 requiring respiratory aid.

To date, a total of 483 cases with travel history to Sabah has been reported since Sept 20.

R-NAUGHT VALUE

At his media briefing on COVID-19 developments in Malaysia on Wednesday, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah once again stressed the importance of lowering the R-naught (R0) value to less than 0.5 in order to flatten the nation’s COVID-19 curve.

At the start of the third wave on Sept 22, the R0 stood at 2.2. Two weeks later, it declined to about 1.5 and yesterday 1.0.

The decrease in the R0 value is attributed to the swift implementation of the Conditional Movement Control Order in states that have seen a spike in new cases.

Dr Noor Hisham is confident that the R0 value will dip to below 0.5 in two to three weeks’ time. But, as he pointed out, for this to happen the public must cooperate by complying with the standard operating procedures such as wearing a mask when in public places, observing physical distancing and washing hands frequently, as well as going out only if it is absolutely necessary.

The R0 value refers to the infectivity or contagious level of a virus at the start of an outbreak within a community. Lowering the R0 value to below 1.0 will help in efforts to break the COVID-19 chain of infections in Malaysia.

LATEST STATUS ON CLUSTERS

As of yesterday, a total of 267 COVID-19 clusters have been reported in the country and 119 of them have ended. And, out of the existing 148 active clusters, only 37 reported new cases yesterday.

Yesterday, five new clusters were reported, two of which were in Sabah (Sutera cluster in Kota Kinabalu which reported 15 cases and Ria cluster in Tuaran with 11 cases).

Selangor reported one new cluster in Petaling district (Tamar cluster with 10 cases); Penang one (Intan cluster with nine cases); and Kuala Lumpur one in Titiwangsa district (Danau cluster with eight cases).

Besides Sabah, other states that have seen a spike in COVID-19 cases are Selangor which recorded 177 new cases yesterday (including three with a history of travel to Sabah); Labuan 92 cases; Negeri Sembilan 90 cases; Penang 36 cases; Kuala Lumpur 14 cases; Kedah seven cases; Sarawak six cases; Perak six cases; Melaka five cases; Johor two cases; and Putrajaya one case.

Meanwhile, Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaacob told a media briefing on Wednesday that Malaysia’s borders are still closed to foreigners, including those working in this country who, currently, are in their respective home nation.

He said only those who have secured the approval of the Immigration Department are allowed entry into Malaysia.

The ban also applies to workers from Bangladesh who hold long-term work passes. On Sept 7, Malaysia enforced a ruling prohibiting the entry of foreigners from nations that have recorded over 150,000 COVID-19 cases.

According to recent media reports, more than 25,000 Bangladeshi workers with Malaysian work passes have appealed to their government to help them to return to Malaysia.

Meanwhile, a total of 61,331 individuals have so far returned to Malaysia through the nation’s main entry points. A total of 9,886 individuals are currently undergoing compulsory two-week quarantine at 67 hotels and 19 other premises, including public training institutes in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Johor, Sarawak, Kelantan, Perak, Kedah, Perlis, Terengganu, Sabah and Labuan, and private educational institutions in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.

GLOBAL COVID-19 STATISTICS

According to CoronaTracker (which cites figures from various agencies including the World Health Organisation), the total number of COVID-19 cases worldwide at the time of writing this article stood at 49,018,297 (45,429,027 cases at the same time last Friday) and 1,239,410 deaths (1,187,582 last Friday). The total number of recoveries stood at 34,980,752.

The United States continues to head the list of badly-hit nations with 9,919,522 cases (9,214,994 last Friday) and 240,953 deaths (234,201 last week).

India is on the second spot with 8,411,034 cases and 125,029 deaths.

Brazil is third with 5,614,258 cases and 161,779 fatalities. Russia is fourth with 1,712,858 cases and 29,509 deaths.

Another 47 countries (last week 44) have recorded cases exceeding 100,000, namely:

France 1,601,367 cases (9,037 deaths), Spain 1,365,895 (38,486), Argentina 1,217,028  (32,766), United Kingdom 1,123,197 (48,120), Colombia 1,117,977 (32,209), Mexico 949,197 (93,772), Peru 914,722  (34,730), Italy 824,879 (40,192), South Africa 732,414 (19,677), Iran 654,936  (36,985), Germany 619,116 (11,190), Chile 516,582 (14,404), Iraq 489,571 (11,175), Belgium 468,213 (12,331), Poland 466,679 (6,842), Ukraine 430,467 (7,924), Indonesia 425,796 (14,348), Bangladesh 416,006 (6,021), Czechia 391,945 (4,330),  Holland 390,488 (7,769), Philippines 389,725 (7,409), Turkey 386,820 (10,639), Saudi Arabia 349,386 (5,489),  Pakistan 340,251 (6,923), Israel 317,863 (2,639), Romania 276,802 (7,540), Canada 251,338 (10,381),  Morocco 240,951 (4,059), Switzerland 202,504 (2,628), Nepal 185,974 (1,052), Equador 171,783 (12,730), Portugal 161,350 (2,740), Bolivia 142,062 (8,768), Sweden 141,764 (6,002), United Arab Emirates 138,599 (508), Panama 136,567 (2,756), Qatar 133,619 (232), Austria 132,515 (1,268),  Kuwait 129,638 (799), Dominican Republic 128,824 (2,260), Oman 117,167 (1,286), Costa Rica 114,367 (1,444),  Kazakhstan 114,235 (1,857), Guatemala 109,849 (3,766), Egypt 108,530 (6,329), Japan 103,838 (1,794)  and Belarus 103,295 (998).

China, where the outbreak was first reported at end-December 2019, is now on the 59th spot with 86,151 cases while its death toll remains unchanged at 4,634.

In Southeast Asia, the Philippines and Indonesia have joined the countries with more than 100,000 cases. Next is Singapore with 58,043 cases while its death toll remains at 28.  Myanmar, where COVID-19 cases are rising rapidly, has reported 57,935 cases and 1,352 deaths. (Last week at this time, Myanmar reported 41,008 cases and 1,005 deaths.)

Thailand has recorded 3,810 cases while its death toll remains at 59, followed by Vietnam with 1,207 cases and 35 deaths.

Cambodia’s cases rose to 292 and its death tally remains zero. Brunei’s tally of 141 cases and two deaths, and Laos’ 23 cases and zero fatality remain unchanged.

COVID-19 BACKGROUND

According to the WHO website, its China country office was informed of cases of pneumonia that were detected in Wuhan on Dec 31, 2019. On Jan 7, the Chinese authorities confirmed that the 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, 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, WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak as a global emergency. By then, it had spread to 18 countries and caused 170 deaths. On March 11, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by WHO.

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.

The International Monetary Fund has warned that the global economic recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will be worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s.

-- BERNAMA