COVID-19 Weekly Round-up: Situation improves, daily new cases remain below 2,000

Yesterday, 1,647 infections were reported and on Tuesday (March 9) the figure was 1,280, the lowest since January.

For the record, the breakdown for daily new cases over the week (March 6-11) is as follows: 1,680 (March 6); 1,683 (March 7); 1,529 (March 8); 1,280 (March 9); 1,448 (March 10); and 1,647 (March 11).

Malaysia's cumulative total of COVID-19 cases now stood at 319,365 while active cases have dipped to 17,544. Incidentally, the highest number of active cases recorded by the nation was 52,186 on Feb 10.

With its total of 319,365 cases, Malaysia remained at the 45th spot in the list of 216 countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Just ahead of Malaysia is Slovakia with 331,571 cases and Panama with 346,301 cases.

China, where the first case involving the deadly coronavirus was reported in December 2019, is at the 86th spot with 90,027 cases, while Malaysia's neighbour Singapore is at the 99th spot with 60,070 cases.

Meanwhile, 2,104 patients were discharged from hospital yesterday, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 300,620 (94.1 percent of total COVID-19 cases in the country).

The daily breakdown for recovered cases this week is as follows: 2,548 (March 6); 2,506 (March 7); 2,076 (March 8); 2,345 (March 9); 2,137 (March 10); and 2,104 (March 11).

As of yesterday, 11 districts in the peninsula have returned to green-zone status. They are Kubang Pasu, Padang Terap, Langkawi and Yan in Kedah; Kampar and Hulu Perak in Perak; Dungun, Kemaman and Hulu Terengganu in Terengganu; and Raub and Cameron Highlands in Pahang.

As for updates regarding the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme, the state-by-state breakdown for the number of people who have received the first dose of the vaccine is as follows as of yesterday:

Perlis 6,006; Kedah 15,834; Penang 12,608; Perak 21,160; Selangor 29,208; Kuala Lumpur 25,190; Putrajaya 3,733; Negeri Sembilan 10,801; Melaka 7,126; Kelantan 15,339; Terengganu 13,070; Pahang 19,314; Johor 19,559; Sabah 20,401; Labuan 2,338; and Sarawak 28,212.

The total number of people who have been vaccinated stood at 249,909.

Meanwhile, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah wrote on his personal Facebook account yesterday that the COVID-19 infectivity rate or R0/Rt value for the whole nation stood at 0.87. State-wise, Perlis recorded the highest R0 value at 1.37 while the lowest (0.54) was recorded by Negeri Sembilan.

On March 9, Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had announced a targeted travel bubble between states observing Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO), effective March 10. However, those wishing to travel for domestic tourism purposes must use the services of tour agencies registered with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture. Travel using private vehicles is not allowed.

Currently from March 5-18, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Negeri Sembilan, Johor, Penang, Kedah, Perak and Kelantan are under Conditional Movement Control Order.

Sarawak is under CMCO from March 2 to March 15. Melaka, Pahang, Terengganu, Perlis, Sabah, Putrajaya and Labuan are under RMCO from March 5 to 18.

Inter-district travel is allowed in all the states (except Sabah) but interstate travel is still prohibited.

Malaysia is under emergency rule starting Jan 12 up to August this year.

As of yesterday, Malaysia has recorded a total of 1,222 COVID-19 clusters, out of which 782 have ended.

A total of 440 clusters are still active with 65 of them reporting new cases yesterday.

Among the clusters that reported substantial numbers of new cases yesterday were the Bina Queens Waterfront cluster (70), Industri Sungai Gadut cluster (68) and DTI Machap Umboo cluster (67).

Five new clusters were reported yesterday, three of which were workplace-related and the remaining two community- and detention centre-related.

The three new workplace clusters were Teknologi Tenggara in Batu Pahat, Johor (12 cases); Jalan Masyhur Enam in Johor Bahru (52); and Jalan Kenangan construction site in Klang, Selangor (31).

The community cluster was Jambatan Satu Bombalai in Kalabakan, Sabah (15 cases) while the detention centre cluster involved the Machap Umboo Immigration holding depot in Alor Gajah, Melaka (83 cases).

On Sunday (March 7), two detention centre clusters were reported, one in Sibu, Sarawak, with 42 positive cases and the other in Kangar, Perlis, with 14 cases.

On March 10, the Ministry of Health announced the PONA cluster involving imported cases in Johor Bahru. This cluster emerged following the screening of the crew of a cargo ship that was docked at the Tanjung Pelepas Port in Johor Bahru. The ship had travelled from Surabaya, Indonesia. As of March 10, a total of 25 individuals were screened and eight tested positive.

Out of the 1,647 new cases recorded nationwide yesterday, Selangor accounted for the highest number of cases at 712, with 141 cases contributed by existing clusters and one new cluster.

Johor reported 170 cases yesterday, 102 of which were from existing clusters and two new clusters; Penang 169 cases with 107 from existing clusters; Sarawak 168; Kuala Lumpur 86; Negeri Sembilan 79; Melaka 71 with 68 of the cases from existing clusters and one new cluster; Perak 69; and Sabah 61.

Kelantan reported 28 cases; Kedah 18; Pahang seven; Terengganu four; Putrajaya two; Perlis two; and Labuan one.

Yesterday, nine deaths were reported, bringing Malaysia's COVID-19 death toll to 1,200. Currently, 147 patients are in the intensive care unit with 61 requiring respiratory aid.

The total number of COVID-19 cases worldwide, according to Worldometer, at the time of writing this article stood at 119,109,202 (116,208,090 cases at the same time last Friday) and deaths 2,641,683 (2,580,800 last Friday). The total number of recoveries stood at 94,722,435.

Some 216 countries are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and those in the top 10 of the list are the United States, India, Brazil, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Turkey and Germany. The breakdown is as follows:

United States 29,925,902 cases (543,721 deaths), India 11,305,979 (158,326), Brazil 11,284,269 (273,124), Russia 4,360,823 (90,734), United Kingdom 4,241,677 (125,168), France 3,990,331 (89,830), Spain 3,178,356 (71,085), Italy 3,149,017 (101,184), Turkey 2,835,989 (29,290) and Germany 2,546,510 (73,560).

China, where the outbreak was first reported at end-December 2019, is now on the 85th spot with 90,027 cases while its death toll remained at 4,636.

Besides Malaysia, the three other Southeast Asian nations that have joined the list of 83 countries with more than 100,000 cases are Indonesia (18th spot) with 1,403,722 cases with 38,049 deaths, the Philippines (30th spot) with 607,048 cases and 12,608 deaths, and Myanmar (77th spot) with 142,114 cases and 3,201 deaths.

Singapore has reported 60,070 cases and 29 deaths; Thailand 26,598 cases and a death toll of 85; Vietnam 2,533 cases and 35 deaths; and Cambodia 1,163 cases and four fatalities.

Brunei's tally stands at 192 cases and three deaths, while Laos' cases increased to 48 cases with zero fatality.

According to the World Health Organisation's 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.