COVID-19 weekly round-up: New cases down, more patients recover

Since April 15, Malaysia has been registering two-digit new cases daily except on April 16 when a three-digit figure was reported.

Yesterday, 71 new cases were reported, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 5,603. The lowest number of new cases (30) was reported on Monday (April 20). Currently, there are 1,966 active cases.

Another positive trend since April 13 is the number of patients recovering from the disease exceeding new cases.

At his daily COVID-19 press briefing yesterday, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 90 patients were discharged, bringing the cumulative total of recovered cases to 3,542, which translates to 63.2 percent of total COVID-19 cases.

To date, 42 patients are in intensive care units with 21 requiring ventilatory aid.

Meanwhile, two more deaths were reported yesterday and total deaths due to COVID-19 now stood at 95 and the fatality rate 1.70 percent. One of the patients who died yesterday was a Ministry of Health (MOH) employee aged 32 who had a history of high blood pressure. This is the third death among MOH staff.

According to Dr Noor Hisham, a total of 325 MOH staff has tested positive for COVID-19. This translates to 5.8 percent of the total cumulative COVID-19 cases in the country. Out of the 325 cases, 185 have recovered and 137 are still undergoing treatment.

Dr Noor Hisham said investigations showed that 70 percent of the MOH staff had contracted the disease after attending wedding receptions and returning from overseas trips.

Last night, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin told the nation in a live television address that the MCO will be extended by another fortnight to May 12. Malaysia is currently in the third phase (April 15-28) of the MCO and the fourth phase will start on April 29 and end on May 12.

Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that there would be no trips back to the kampung for city folks to welcome the month of Ramadan, which starts today.

However, those who have been stuck in their villages or, in the case of students, stranded on their university or college campus since the start of the MCO on March 18 will be allowed to return home.

Beginning April 25, they can apply for a permit to travel back home at the nearest police station or online via the Gerak Malaysia mobile application, which is a collaboration between the police and the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia.

The senior minister however said that they would only be allowed to travel after the authorities have collected data on the volume of people who wished to travel and after "MOH, the police and National Security Council conduct further discussions" on the matter.

As at the time of writing this article, the number of red zones in Malaysia that have less than 41 active cases of COVID-19 has dropped to 13. Areas declared as red zones are as follows: Petaling, Hulu Langat, Klang, Kepong, Lembah Pantai, Titiwangsa, Melaka Tengah, Seremban, Johor Bahru, Kluang, Kuantan, Kuching and Kota Samarahan.

Meanwhile, on April 20 the residential areas around the Selayang Wholesale Market and Pusat Bandar Utara in Kuala Lumpur were placed under Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO). The EMCO will remain until May 3.

Other areas where EMCO has been enforced are Jalan Munshi Abdullah, Jalan Tun Perak, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Jalan Dang Wangi, Jalan Melaka and Jalan Ampang, as well as Menara City One at Jalan Munshi Abdullah, and Selangor Mansion and Malayan Mansion at Jalan Masjid India, Kuala Lumpur; Kluang, Johor; and Hulu Langat, Selangor.

World Health Organisation (WHO) director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, earlier this week that the pandemic will remain for a long time and that the virus that causes COVID-19 "remains extremely dangerous".

He said: "Most of the (COVID-19) epidemics in Western Europe appear to be stable or declining. Although numbers are low, we see worrying upward trends in Africa, Central and South America, and Eastern Europe."

He said most countries are still in the early stages of their epidemics and that some affected early in the pandemic are now starting to see a resurgence in cases.

WHO head for the Western Pacific region Dr Takeshi Kasai said nations who are now almost free of new COVID-19 infections may be hit by a new wave as the pandemic still exists in the region.

He urged nations in the region to hold discussions on the best approach to end the lockdowns or restricted movement orders imposed in their nations. Any lifting of quarantine or lockdown has to be done cautiously as it may trigger new larger-scale transmissions COVID-19.

In the United States, its Centres for Disease Control and Prevention director Robert Redfield told the Washington Post on Wednesday that the second wave of COVID-19 infections could coincide with the flu season and that the second wave will be worse than the first.

According to CoronaTracker (which cites statistics from various agencies including WHO), the total number of COVID-19 cases now stood at 2,725,391and deaths 191,055 worldwide. A total of 745,821 people have recovered from the disease.

The United States continued to record substantial numbers of new cases. It now has 886,709 cases while total deaths have climbed to 50,243. New York City, which is the country's epicentre, has recorded more than 250,000 cases and about 18,000 fatalities.

Spain has the second-highest number of cases at 213,024 and 22,157 deaths; followed by Italy 189,973 cases and 25,549 deaths; and France 158,183 cases and 21,856 deaths.

China recorded 82,804 cases compared to 82,341 cases on April 17. Its death toll stands at 4,632.

A few of Malaysia's neighbouring countries have been reporting substantial hikes in cases. In the ASEAN community, Singapore has the highest case tally at 11,178 and 12 deaths, with its migrant workers accounting for most of the new cases.

Indonesia has 7,775 cases (647 deaths), Philippines 6,981 (462), Thailand 2,839 (50), Vietnam 268 (0), Brunei 138 (one), Myanmar 132 cases (five), Cambodia 122 (0) and Laos 19 (0).

Other nations worldwide with huge COVID-19 cases numbers include:

Germany 153,129 cases (5,575 deaths), United Kingdom 138,078 (18,738), Turkey 101,790 (2,491), Iran 87,026 (5,481), Russia 62,773 (555), Brazil 50,036 (3,331), Belgium 42,797 (6,490), Canada 42,110 (2,147), Holland 35,729 (4,177), Switzerland 28,496 (1,549) and Portugal 22,353 (820).

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.