Malaysia, Covid-19 infections are declining, with 5,745 new cases reported in October

[ASEAN NOW Content Team]

 

According to Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, the number of cases, fatalities, bed utilisation, and intensive care unit (ICU) use for Covid-19 patients reported daily continued to show a downward trend in the 41st epidemiological week (ME).

He also stated that the infectivity rate or R-naught (RT) remained steady at roughly 0.80-0.90 throughout the 41st ME, which lasted from October 10 to October 16.

He explained that this was in consistent with greater Covid-19 vaccine coverage in Malaysia, as well as efforts to methodically reopen certain industries through more convincing safe reopening measures.

 

“During that time, new Covid-19 instances decreased by 17.9%, from 63,722 cases (for the 40th ME) to 52,321 cases (41st ME).
Meanwhile, new instances in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Putrajaya, and Kuala Lumpur were showing a horizontal trend.

"The average number of active cases fell by 21% from 133,450 in the 40th ME to 105,497 in the 41st ME, while deaths fell by 15.3% from 700 in the 40th ME to 593 in the 41st ME" (41st ME).

"The number of cases requiring ICU treatment decreased by 12% from 778 cases in the 40th ME to 684 cases in the 41st ME, while instances requiring breathing assistance decreased by 11.9 percent from 331 cases in the 40th ME to 292 cases in the 41st ME," he said in a statement on Tuesday (Oct 19).

 

For the same time period, the total number of Covid-19 clusters decreased, with 83 new clusters reported, including 37 (44.6%) workplace clusters, 25 (30.1%) community clusters, 10 (12.1%) educational centre clusters, nine (10.8%) high-risk group clusters, one (1.2%) detention centre cluster, and one (1.2%) religious cluster.

In the 41st ME, compared to the 40th ME, bed utilisation capacity of Covid-19 Quarantine and Low-risk Treatment Centres and wards, as well as the usage of breathing apparatus, exhibited a decreased trend of between 1% and 3%.