DG: Surge in cases seen globally

Rise in Malaysia’s daily figures is reflective of a pandemic, says Ministry

PUTRAJAYA: The recent rise in Malaysia’s Covid-19 daily figures is reflective of the global pandemic situation, said the Health Ministry.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said countries such as the United States and India as well as neighbouring nations Indonesia and Thailand are all going through a similar increasing trend.

“The United States is the worst affected with over 32 million cases and 531,542 deaths. India is the second highest with 15 million cases, with an increase of 96,982 new infections.

“Earlier in the year, India only recorded about 20,000 new cases a day but the figures have gone up since April.

“Thailand recorded more than 1,500 new cases for three consecutive days.

“On April 4, Thailand’s average daily cases was less than 100 cases,” Dr Noor Hisham said in his daily Covid-19 press statement.

Yesterday, Malaysia recorded 2,341 new cases and three more Covid-19 deaths.

It is the sixth day straight that new cases in the country remained above the 2,000 mark.

Sarawak recorded the highest increase with 600 new cases, followed by Selangor (539 cases), Kelantan (429), Kuala Lumpur (344) and Johor (102).

Active cases continued to climb, with the country’s latest figures standing at 21,268.

Currently, there are 249 patients under intensive care nationwide, with 95 of them requiring ventilator support.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said Malaysia’s Covid-19 data is authentic as they undergo a thorough verification process daily.

“It is important for every country to ensure that its day-to-day data on Covid-19 cases are accurate and managed with a transparent system.

All test results conducted at government or private health facilities must be uploaded to the Public Health Laboratory Information System.

“The data from all states will be compiled daily at 12pm by the Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC).

“After that, the data is analysed and verified before it is registered. All the data will undergo a thorough review by officers at the CPRC.

“The data registered will be used for epidemiological analysis of the Covid-19 situation in Malaysia including case trends, infectivity rates, infections clusters, hospital capacity as well as the effectiveness of preventive and control measures.

“Therefore, there is no doubt in the accuracy of the ministry’s data management system and the figures released to the public,” said Dr Noor Hisham.