This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 27, 2020
KUALA LUMPUR: Just one day after Putrajaya announced that the movement control order will be extended to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysia recorded a spike in new infections, with 235 cases recorded as of noon yesterday — its highest jump in a single day since the country’s first recorded case two months ago. Its previous highest daily increase was 212 cases, recorded on Monday.
This pushed the total number of infections in Malaysia to 2,031, according to the health ministry (MoH) director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah. Of the new infections, 60 cases have been traced to the tabligh or religious gathering at Masjid Jamek Sri Petaling, a three-day event held from Feb 28 to March 2. The source of infection for the remainder 175 new cases is still being identified, he said.
The country also saw four new fatalities — all men — from the illness, which raised the death toll to 23.
There are now 45 cases in intensive care, with 32 requiring respiratory aid.
’Most Covid-19 patients will recover’
The recovery tally has also increased, with 16 more patients discharged yesterday, lifting the number of recovery to 215.
And Dr Noor Hisham is confident that most of the other patients will recover, given the low 1.1% mortality rate of the disease in Malaysia, compared with the world’s average of 4.5%.
“So 95% or more than 98% (of the patients) can recover, but it might take some time before we discharge them from the hospital and return to society. Before we discharge them, they must test negative [for the infection] for 24 hours. This might take a while, maybe 10 days, 12 days, or even two weeks in some cases,” he told reporters yesterday.
“However, we will still provide our services and care for them until they are tested negative twice,” he added.
There are three factors that may place Covid-19 patients at a higher fatality risk. They are old age, especially if one is above 70 years; having other diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, or heart diseases, and being late in seeking treatment.
“At the same time, patients with higher immunity level may recover more quickly compared to those with lower level of immunity. So our strategy is to protect the ones who are older because they would typically have lower immunity levels,” he added.
Seven more healthcare workers confirmed infected, with total at 80
Dr Noor Hisham also affirmed what he shared earlier on Facebook yesterday that 80 government healthcare workers had contracted the virus — up seven from Wednesday — and that 39 of them are from the Hospital Teluk Intan cluster, whose source of infection had been traced to a wedding reception that was also attended by some tabligh participants.
“In view of the current situation, MoH has decided that all the healthcare and support staff at Hospital Teluk Intan undergo testing for Covid-19,” he said.
He further stressed that none of these 80 infections are due to the management or treatment of Covid-19 patients.
Besides the 39 from Hospital Teluk Intan, Perak (two more from 37 on Wednesday), there are five from Selayang Hospital in Selangor, four from Raja Perempuan Zainab Hospital in Kelantan, three from the Seri Manjung Hospital in Perak, three from Tuanku Jaafar Hospital in Seremban, and two from Shah Alam Hospital in Selangor. Twenty-four other healthcare facilities have reported one case each, according to the ministry.
Enhanced lockdown in two areas in Kluang
Starting from today till April 9, an enhanced movement control order will be imposed on Kampung Dato’ Ibrahim Majid and Bandar Baharu Dato’ Ibrahim Majid in Simpang Renggam, two areas in Kluang, Johor, where 61 out of 83 infections originated.
This is a lockdown with no movement in or out of the two areas allowed, while all business activities will be stopped. Basic food supplies will be provided to residents by the Social Welfare Department during this lockdown, while a medical base will be opened there.
“To ensure compliance, the police, the armed forces, the civil defence force and the People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela) will control the entire area,” Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said in a statement.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced that the 14-day nationwide MCO originally scheduled to end on March 31 would be extended to April 14, as infections in the country continued to rise.