COVID-19 cases in Malaysia still at a plateau

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the new cases reported daily were due to active case detection being carried out in areas under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO).

"I would say there is a spike only if there are suddenly 1,000 or 2,000 cases a day in Malaysia.

"So far so good. The data is still at a plateau, no sudden surge," he told a daily press briefing on COVID-19 at the ministry here today.

Dr Noor Hisham said an example of a sudden surge would be like in the United States where 25,000 positive COVID-19 cases were reported in one day.

"How can Malaysia handle 25,000 cases? Our hospitals won't have enough space. This is the problem when there is a sudden surge in cases," he added.

Dr Noor Hisham said at the moment the detection of new cases in Malaysia was at a rate of seven to eight per cent of the total number of confirmation tests conducted.

Malaysia's approach to curbing the spread of COVID-19 was to implement the Movement Control Order to stem local transmission, ensure that those entering the country are quarantined and intensify active case detection.

On the tabligh group, Dr Noor Hisham said the ministry is aware that some of the people who attended the assembly at Masjid Sri Petaling from Feb 27 to March 1 were now probably overseas such as in Sulawesi, India and Pakistan.

"When they are back we (Health Ministry) need collaboration from the police and Immigration Department so that they can come forward for testing and avoid infecting others," he added.

So far 17,012 samples have been taken from the Sri Petaling cluster, with 1,591 testing positive and 10,912 negative while the results for 4,500 are still pending.