Covid 19 New Cases In Malacca But Infectivity Remains Low

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COVID-19 | Malaysia has reported five new cases of Covid-19 in the 24-hour period up to noon today, of which two were imported and three were locally acquired
Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the imported cases involved Malaysians returning from the Philippines and Egypt, whereas all three locally acquired cases were detected in Malacca
The three latest cases in Malacca were detected at the Terendak Military Hospital, but they are not considered part of a cluster yet
“One patient came in for cataract surgery, another came for hand surgery. They are not a cluster
“The other one is a staff member who had symptoms, was screened and noted to be positive,” Noor Hisham told reporters at a press conference in Putrajaya today
An aide to the director-general later told reporters that the two cases detected through pre-surgery screening involved military veterans who do not live in the Terendak army camp
The hospital staff member, however, does reside in the camp
The last time a case was reported in Malacca was on Aug 10 during pre-admission screening at a private hospital
Together with the latest report, there are now four active cases in the state
Nevertheless, Noor Hisham said the infectivity of the disease in the country remains low and the effective reproduction number (Rt) as of yesterday is 0.74
This means that on average, each Covid-19 patient only causes 0.74 new infections. The figure was as high as 3.55 prior to the implementation of the first movement control order on March 18
A number below 1.0 is regarded as insufficient to sustain an outbreak and the disease will eventually fizzle out if its infectivity is kept below that threshold
“The Health Ministry is constantly working to reduce the Rt and keep it below 'one'. It would help to break the Covid-19 chain of infection in Malaysia
“Therefore, the community is urged to continue complying with Covid-19 standard operating procedures set by the government,” he added
In recent weeks, Noor Hisham said the Rt had reached a high of 1.37 on July 22 and a low of 0.58 on Aug 4
After Aug 4, the emergence of several new clusters including the Tawar cluster caused the Rt to increase before dropping to the current level of 0.74
Meanwhile, the director-general said there are currently 177 Covid-19 cases that are still active in Malaysia. A total of 16 people had recovered today and have been discharged
Of the cases that are still active, eight are being treated in intensive care units compared to nine yesterday. Six of them require ventilator support, a figure unchanged since yesterday
The death toll remains unchanged at 125 since the last reported death on July 29. - Mkini

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