COVID-19 weekly round-up: In recovery phase now

As of noon yesterday, 57 new COVID-19 cases were reported in this country, bringing the total tally to 6,002. The number of active cases stood at 1,729. Another 84 patients were discharged, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 4,171 which translated to a recovery rate of 69.5 percent.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has said that the uptrend in recovered cases and downtrend in active COVID-19 cases showed that Malaysia has succeeded in flattening the infection curve and has now entered the recovery phase.

Two deaths were recorded yesterday and the death toll now was 102, putting Malaysia's COVID-19 fatality rate at 1.7 percent. A total of 36 patients were in intensive care units and 14 of them required ventilation support.

Beginning April 20, Malaysia has been reporting fewer than 50 new cases daily. Tuesday (April 26) saw the lowest number of new cases (31) reported since the Movement Control Order (MCO) was enforced on March 18.

However, the number went up to 94 and 57 on Wednesday (April 29) and Thursday (April 30) respectively.

Explaining the sudden rise, Dr Noor Hisham said 72 of the new cases reported on Wednesday were "imported" and they involved Malaysian students who had returned from Indonesia. This meant that there were only 22 cases of local transmission.

As for yesterday's new cases, Dr Noor Hisham said 25 were imported cases while the remaining 32 were local transmissions.

CONDITIONAL MCO

Meanwhile, in his Workers Day 2020 address this morning, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced that a conditional movement control order (CMCO) will be enforced starting May 4.

He said almost all industries and businesses will be allowed to resume operations while restaurants can reopen their premises but subject to conditions and a standard operating procedure.

The government started easing certain restrictions on Wednesday, allowing two people from the same family to go out to buy essentials and medicines and also allowing them to exceed the 10-kilometre radius from their residence if the items they need to purchase are not available within the radius.

Previously, only one family member was allowed to go out to buy necessities and their movements were limited to the 10-km radius.

Earlier, the government announced that students who are stranded in their campuses can return to their hometowns in stages beginning April 27. This operation will involve around 53,000 students and is being undertaken by the Ministry of Higher Education with the collaboration of the Ministry of Health (MOH), National Security Council, National Disaster Management Agency and the police.

However, only students in green zones are allowed to return home, which should also be located in a green zone. (An area is declared a green zone when it has no active cases.)

Those who are stuck in their kampungs and could not return to the city due to the MCO can also apply for a police permit to travel.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

During his daily press conference on Wednesday, Dr Noor Hisham announced that low-risk COVID-19 patients undergoing treatment at Hospital Kuala Lumpur would be shifted to the temporary medical facility located at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang, Selangor.

The more severe COVID-19 cases will be shifted to Hospital Sungai Buloh, he said, adding that the MOH was doing this to reduce the workload of HKL staff and enable them to focus on other healthcare services.

Meanwhile, the number of red zones nationwide has remained at 12. They are Petaling and Hulu Langat districts in Selangor; Titiwangsa, Lembah Pantai and Kepong in Kuala Lumpur; Johor Bahru and Kluang in Johor; Kuantan, Pahang; Seremban, Negeri Sembilan; Kuching and Kota Samarahan, Sarawak; and Melaka Tengah, Melaka.

The number of areas placed under the Enhanced Movement Control Order has remained at six. They are: areas surrounding the Selayang Wholesale Market; areas around Masjid India, Kuala Lumpur, involving Jalan Munshi Abdullah, Jalan Tun Perak, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Jalan Dang Wangi, Jalan Melaka and Jalan Ampang; Menara City One at Jalan Munshi Abdullah; Selangor Mansion and Malayan Mansion at Jalan Masjid India; Kluang, Johor; and Hulu Langat, Selangor.

GLOBAL COVID-19 STATISTICS

According to statistics by CoronaTracker (which cites figures from various agencies including WHO), total COVID-19 cases worldwide stood at 3,308,290 and deaths 234,108 at the time of writing this article. The total number of recovered cases stood at 1,042,841.

The United States: The total number of cases crossed the one million mark on April 28 and now stood at 1,095,210 while the death toll was 63,861. It has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and fatalities in the world. In fact, the death toll has exceeded the number of American soldiers who perished during the Vietnam War.

New York City, the epicentre of the US infections, accounted for more than 159,000 cases and 12,000 deaths.

Spain is the second worst-hit nation, with 239,639 cases and 24,543 deaths; followed by Italy 205,463 (27,967 deaths); and the United Kingdom 171,253 (26,771).

China, where the COVID-19 outbreak was first reported at end-December 2019, continued to report fewer new cases. The total number of cases now stood at 82,874 compared to 82,804 a week ago.

Some of Malaysia's neighbouring countries continued to register substantial hikes in new COVID-19 cases.

In this region, Singapore tops the list with 16,169 cases and 15 deaths, with a bulk of the new cases comprising its migrant workers who reside at hostels.

Next is Indonesia with 10,118 cases and 792 deaths, followed by the Philippines 8,488 (568); Thailand 2,954 (54); Vietnam 270 (0); Brunei 138 (1); Myanmar 151 (six); Cambodia 122 (0); and Laos 19 (0).

Other nations with substantial COVID-19 cases are as follows:

France 167,178 cases (24,376 deaths); Germany 163,009 (6,623); Turkey 120,204 (3,081); Russia 106,498 (1,073); Iran 94,640 (6,028; Brazil 87,187 (6,006); Canada 53,236 (3,184); Belgium 48,519 (7,594); Holland 39,316 (4,795); Peru 36,976 (1,051); India 34,863 (1,079); Switzerland 29,586 cases (1,737); Portugal 25,045 (989); Equador 24,934 (900); and Saudi Arabia 22,753 (162).

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 10 times 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.