Deaths may reach record figure this month
PETALING JAYA: The number of Covid-19 deaths in Malaysia may have peaked in February, but the rate of fatalities in recent weeks could see the month of May breaking that unwanted record.
February 2021 is still Malaysia’s most deadly month on record in terms of the pandemic, with 370 deaths.
May, however, could surpass that number having already recorded 255 deaths from May 1 to 12, compared to 193 from Feb 1 to 12. This is based on an analysis by The Star of Malaysia’s Covid-19 deaths from March 2020 to April 2021.
Covid-19 deaths remained relatively low in the first half of 2020, even dipping to only two deaths in August.
Fatalities started picking up in October with 113 deaths, steadily rising until it reached its peak in February this year.
While there was a decline in March and April, with 142 and 234 deaths respectively, the numbers started growing in recent weeks.
In the second half of April, there were 153 deaths – nearly double the first two weeks.
Yesterday, the number of deaths hit 34 in just a single day.
Universiti Sains Malaysia medical epidemiologist and biostatistician Assoc Prof Dr Kamarul Imran Musa said the rising fatality rate is consistent with the trend of new Covid-19 cases.
“The wave in early January that lasted until the middle of March resulted in a huge number of active cases. This will lead to an increase in the number of deaths.
“Whenever the burden of a huge number of active cases increases, this will also lead to increased burden in hospital care, including ICU care and others. This will directly or indirectly lead to more fatalities,” he said.
Dr Kamarul predicted that more double-digit daily fatalities will be seen by the end of this month and the next few months unless the country is able to flatten the curve.
On Thursday, Selangor surpassed Sabah as the state with the highest number of cumulative deaths, with 451 compared to Sabah’s 449.
Dr Kamarul said it was interesting that Sabah has had a similar number of fatalities as Selangor, even though Selangor has had more cumulative cases.
“Perhaps this is the result of less advanced facilities and fewer resources available to Covid-19 patients in Sabah,” he added.
Universiti Putra Malaysia medical epidemiologist and biostatistician Assoc Prof Dr Malina Osman believes the high fatality rate in Sabah could be due to underlying comorbidities as well as a host of other factors.
“(Other factors) would be related to logistics or health facilities, while others could also include at what stage the patients were brought to the clinic or hospital for treatment, and the number of critical cases during that time.
“Perhaps this could also be related to the socioeconomic factors that determine people’s ability to afford healthcare fees, or being non-legal residents, which may delay treatment,” she said.