Kedah showing downtrend in Covid-19 deaths

ALOR STAR – Kedah has recorded a downtrend or an average of three Covid-19 death cases for the last two weeks.

State Health Department director Dr Othman Warijo told The Vibes there were also no brought-in-dead cases recorded over the last 14 days.

He said this is a good indicator of the management of the Covid-19 pandemic in the state, despite the worrying number of Omicron variant cases detected in the country.

“However, we cannot be relaxed, as we have to continue our role in fighting the pandemic to make the nation overcome the disease and to stop the spread of the virus in the country,” he said.

Commenting on booster vaccinations, Dr Othman said the state was recording 25% completion, according to the earlier requirement of a six-month interval for the booster dose. 

However, the demand for booster vaccination had increased after the government announced the new requirement of a three-month interval after the second dose.

“Seven outlets, including government hospitals and vaccination centres, private hospitals and private clinics, are offering booster dose vaccination for senior citizens and eligible general public,” he said.

Dr Othman encouraged those who qualify to get their booster jabs, as it would help enhance their immune system and strengthen their protection against the coronavirus.

According to the Health Ministry’s statistics in the CovidNow portal, Kedah has recorded 15 deaths in 10,000 people over the last 14 days, whereas Penang has registered 17 cases. Perlis recorded 10 cases.

Kedah recorded a total of 249 new cases over the last two weeks, with 32 admissions. Penang had 191 registered cases with 21 admissions, while Perlis registered 16 cases with nine admissions.

Penang has a total of 1,892 active cases, in which 1,647 patients have been placed under home quarantine.

74 are placed in low-risk treatment centres, while 152 are admitted to hospitals with eight of them in the intensive care unit (ICU) requiring ventilators and 11 in the ICU without ventilators. – The Vibes, January 4, 2022