KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 13): Japan has ranked Malaysia as the second-best country in the fight against Covid-19, according to second Deputy Minister of Health Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang.

“Japan has made its own assessment and ranked Malaysia second after South Korea, for the country’s success in handling the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat here today.

“In terms of [Covid-19] testing capacity, we’re doing it in a targeted approach and have so far screened 1.6 million [individuals]. Given that our positive cases are low, at less than or about 1%, there is no need to spend more to increase testing activities,” he added.

Aaron was responding to former Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad, who said Malaysia should carry out more screening to avoid the same fate as New Zealand, which was forced into a lockdown again, after managing to be “the best country” in the fight against Covid-19.

Citing the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, Aaron said a country would need to increase its Covid-19 testing activities only if the active cases are at or above 5% of the total positive cases.

Earlier, Dzulkefly questioned the deputy minister on precautionary measures taken by the Ministry of Health (MoH) to address the possibility of the second wave of Covid-19 in Malaysia, particularly when the country starts reopening its borders.

In response, Aaron said Malaysia has not fully opened its borders except to Singapore under the Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL) initiative and Periodic Commuting Arrangement (PCA), which will start on Aug 17.

“We have stepped up health screening and Covid-19 testing on every individual who arrives at Malaysia’s international entry points. They will have to go through two rounds of Covid-19 testing at 14 days apart.

“If they’re tested negative in the first round, they would still be quarantined and retested on the 13th day of their quarantine. If they’re found positive in the second round, they will then be referred to the hospital for isolation and treatment,” he added.

According to the Kanowit MP, some 91,385 overseas travellers had arrived in Malaysia as of Aug 4.

Of the total, he said, 562 were tested positive in the first round of testing while 211 individuals tested positive in the second round.

On Malaysia’s level of preparedness in facing a possible second wave of Covid-19, he said the country has a total of 6,889 regular beds and 430 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds reserved for Covid-19 cases in 40 hospitals nationwide.

Of these numbers, he said less than 15% of the regular beds and less than 5% of the ICU beds are currently occupied by Covid-19 patients.

“There are 1,364 ventilators available at Covid-19 hospitals and the utilisation rate, including non-Covid-19 patients, is around 40% currently. In terms of laboratories, there are 58 labs across the country that can carry out Covid-19 testing. These labs have a combined capacity of 38,600 tests per day,” he added.

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