[UPDATED] Malaysia now battling new Covid-19 wave due to Delta variant: MoH

KUALA LUMPUR – The easing of restrictions under the current movement control order (MCO) last month has been identified as the main contributor of the recent spike in Covid-19 cases today.

Health Deputy Director-General (Public Health) Datuk Dr Chong Chee Kheong said the action of certain individuals to disregard standard operating procedures (SOP) to celebrate Hari Raya Aidiladha had also contributed to the increase.

These, among others, have led to daily infections breaching 20,000 yesterday, with the number of deaths per week also reaching about 1,000 at the moment.

In a press conference today, Dr Chong, who is also the ministry’s Greater Klang Valley Special Task Force commander, said the rising trend in cases of late is the cumulative effect of events that unfolded last month.

“A month ago, we saw the easing of MCO 3.0 and at the same time, the economic sector also eased up to help the people earn their livelihoods.

“We also had a festival where people moved around and some even crossed state borders. These effects are now seen two to four weeks later,” he said, adding that the presence of a more dominant Delta strain has also aggravated matters.

The government had last month announced the lifting of the enhanced MCO in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor just days ahead of Hari Raya Aidiladha, which fell on July 20.

Since then, several sectors of the economy have also been given the green light to operate, while a number of companies and factories are also said to have received approval for operation.

Dr Chong said during this period, the number of Covid-19 brought-in-dead (BID) cases have also risen consistently, logging about 80 to 100 a week.

This makes up about 10% of the overall Covid-19 weekly fatality, which he said average about 800 to 1,000 today.

Expressing his concern on the BID, Dr Chong said the large majority of them (about 80%) were not diagnosed for the coronavirus.

“In other words, there’s a group of people who either has no access to diagnosis, or for reasons of their own, are not coming forward to be tested,” he said, adding that most of them are non-citizens.

Asked to comment on the possibility that the actual number of Covid-19 cases today could be triple the ones reported, Dr Chong merely said that the approach taken by the ministry is to implement targeted testing, especially on those with symptoms.

“Because the people who die of Covid-19, they must first be positive, have symptoms, and their health will deteriorate over a period of two or three days. So early symptoms are the most important issue now, not to know the number of cases.” 

Dr Chong said it would be unfeasible and unsustainable for the country to implement the approach taken by several countries of conducting mass population testing. 

“The aim is to get everyone in Selangor, for example, tested within a short span of time of say two weeks to one month. After that, do we repeat the process?” – The Vibes, August 6, 2021