Cumulative Total Nearing One Million Active Cases Exceed 142 000

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This is a round-up of Covid-19 related matters in Malaysia and globally from July 17 up to noon today. In Malaysia, case numbers have exceeded 960,000 and globally, the virus has infected nearly 193 million people and caused over four million deaths. More than 216 countries and territories are affected by the pandemic.
In Malaysia, it all started when three “flu-like” cases caused by a relatively unknown coronavirus were detected on Jan 25, 2020. Fast forward to 18 months later, the cumulative case number is fast approaching the one-million mark.
Yesterday, Malaysia’s Covid-19 cases totalled 964,918 after 13,034 new infections were reported while the active caseload swelled to 142,051.
Malaysia has been burdened with five-figure new cases since July 13 when 11,079 new infections were registered nationwide.
Following is the daily breakdown of new cases nationwide during the week under review from July 17 to 22: July 17 (12,528), July 18 (10,710), July 19 (10,972), July 20 (12,366), July 21 (11,985) and July 22 (13,034).
The three “hotspot” states of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Negeri Sembilan continued to account for a bulk of the new cases reported over the week.
Yesterday, Selangor recorded 6,049 new cases, Kuala Lumpur 1,611 and Negeri Sembilan 711. The three states accounted for 8,371 or 64.22 percent of the 13,034 new infections reported nationwide yesterday.
Following is the daily breakdown of new cases reported in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Negeri Sembilan this week:
Selangor – July 17 (4,985), July 18 (4,828), July 19 (4,404), July 20 (5,524), July 21 (5,550) and July 22 (6,049).
Kuala Lumpur – July 17 (1,740), July 18 (945), July 19 (609), July 20 (1,580), July 21 (1,174) and July 22 (1,611).
Negeri Sembilan – July 17 (1,280), July 18 (771), July 19 (1,340), July 20 (970), July 21 (745) and July 22 (711).
Malaysia is also being burdened with new clusters and as of yesterday, it had 946 active clusters. So far, the nation has recorded a total of 3,361 clusters, out of which 2,415 have ended.
Out of the 32 new clusters announced yesterday, 21 were linked to the workplace, seven community, two education and two high-risk group.
During the week under review (July 17-22), a total of 156 new clusters were reported, out of which 98 or 62.8 percent were linked to the workplace.




Patients being treated in intensive care unit
Meanwhile, as of yesterday, 938 Covid-19 patients were being treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) with 459 of them requiring respiratory aid. Malaysia recorded the highest number of patients in the ICU on July 13 (972 cases).
Yesterday, another 134 fatalities were reported, bringing Malaysia’s Covid-19 death toll to 7,574 (0.79 percent of total cases). The highest single-day death toll was reported on July 21 (199 cases comprising 173 citizens and 26 non-citizens).
With its cumulative 964,918 cases, Malaysia is now on the 31st spot in the list of 216 countries affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Just ahead of Malaysia are Pakistan (998,609 cases) and Romania (1,081,875 cases).

Other developments in Malaysia
Deputy Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob was reported as saying yesterday that the government is considering the possibility of easing the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to allow individuals who have received two doses of their vaccine to travel interstate to visit their families.
Last week, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the easing of restrictions for fully-vaccinated individuals will be decided at the National Recovery Council meeting and announced to the public soon.
Selayang Hospital, meanwhile, is the third in Selangor to be turned into a full Covid-19 hospital, after Sungai Buloh Hospital and Ampang Hospital.
Selayang Hospital's ’s change in status from hybrid to full Covid-19 hospital was effective July 21. An announcement to this effect was made via an update on the hospital’s official Facebook account yesterday.
Following is the breakdown in the number of new Covid-19 cases reported by the various states yesterday: Selangor 6,049; Kuala Lumpur 1,611; Johor 791; Negeri Sembilan 711; Kedah 701; Sarawak 644; Sabah 497; Terengganu 391; Penang 371; Melaka 353; Perak 284; Pahang 261; Kelantan 240; Putrajaya 100; Labuan 24; and Perlis six.




Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in his personal Facebook account yesterday that the Covid-19 infectivity rate or R0/Rt value has been declining steadily over the week (the highest was 1.20 on July 15) as follows: July 17 (1.18), July 18 (1.15), July 19 (1.14), July 20 (1.12), July 21 (1.09) and July 22 (1.07).
The states showing the highest R0/Rt value were Terengganu 1.44, Kedah 1.22 and Putrajaya 1.22.
Covid-19 scenario in Malaysia (July 17-22)
Following is the daily breakdown of recovered cases: July 17 (6,629), July 18 (5,778), July 19 (6,439), July 20 (7,567), July 21 (7,902) and July 22 (8,436).
Following is the daily breakdown of new cases, local transmissions and imported cases:
July 17 – new cases 12,528; local transmissions 12,509 (9,848 or 78.7 percent Malaysian citizens); imported 19;
July 18 – new cases 10,710; local transmissions 10,698 (8,579 or 80.2 percent citizens); imported cases 12;
July 19 – new cases 10,972; local transmissions 10,924 (8,950 or 81.9 percent citizens); imported cases 48;
July 20 – new cases 12,366; local transmissions 12,358 (10,002 or 80.9 percent citizens); imported cases eight;
July 21 – new cases 11,985; local transmissions 11,978 (10,445 or 87.2 percent citizens); imported cases seven; and
July 22 – new cases 13,034; local transmissions 13,009 (11,446 or 88.0 percent citizens); imported cases 25.
The daily breakdown in fatalities is as follows:
July 17 – 138 (128 Malaysian citizens, brought in dead or BID cases 18);
July 18 – 153 (125 citizens, BID 24);
July 19 – 129 (118 citizens, BID 13);
July 20 – 93 (91 citizens, BID 10);
July 21 – 199 (173 citizens, BID 33); and
July 22 – 134 (119 citizens and BID 22).
The BID cases refer to deaths that occurred outside healthcare facilities, with the bodies testing positive for Covid-19 after RT-PCR tests were carried out.
The following is the daily breakdown of new clusters reported:
July 17 – 28 (workplace 19, community six, high-risk group two and education one);
July 18 – 17 (workplace 10, community five, detention centre one and high-risk group one);
July 19 – 31 (workplace 18, community eight, high-risk group two, detention centre two and imported one);
July 20 – 18 (workplace 13, community two, high-risk group two and detention centre one);
July 21 – 30 (workplace 17, community eight, high-risk group two, religious two and education one); and
July 22 – 32 (workplace 21, community seven, high-risk group two and education two).
Global Covid-19 statistics
The total number of Covid-19 cases worldwide, according to Worldometer, at the time of writing this article stood at 193,410,165 (189,888,496 cases at the same time last Friday) and deaths 4,151,456 (4,085,912 last Friday). The total number of recoveries stood at 175,724,203.




People wearing face masks walking on a street market in Wuhan
Some 216 countries are affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and those in the top 10 of the list are the United States, India, Brazil, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Argentina, Colombia and Italy.
The breakdown is as follows: United States 35,213,594 cases (626,172 deaths); India 31,291,704 (419,502), Brazil 19,524,092 (547,134), Russia 6,054,711 (151,501), France 5,933,510 (111,565), Turkey 5,563,903 (50,761), United Kingdom 5,602,321 (128,980), Argentina 4,812,351 (103,074), Colombia 4,692,570 (117,836) and Italy 4,302,393 (127,920).
China, where the outbreak was first reported at end-December 2019, is now on the 105th spot in the list of countries affected by Covid-19 with 92,426 cases while its death toll remained at 4,636.
Besides Malaysia, the four other Southeast Asian nations that have joined the list of 100 countries with more than 100,000 cases are Indonesia (14th spot) with 3,033,339 cases and 79,032 deaths, the Philippines (23th spot) with 1,530,266 cases and 26,891 deaths, Thailand (49th spot) with 467,707 cases and 3,811 deaths and Myanmar (78th spot) with 253,364 cases and 6,133 deaths.
Vietnam (109th spot) has reported 78,269 cases and 370 deaths; Cambodia (112th spot) 70,419 cases and 1,188 deaths; Singapore (113th spot) 63,791 cases and 36 deaths; Laos (179th spot) 4,119 cases and five deaths; and Brunei (204th spot) 311 cases and three deaths.
Covid-19 background
The World Health Organisation’s China country office was informed of cases of pneumonia that were detected in Wuhan on Dec 31, 2019. On Jan 7, the Chinese authorities confirmed that the newly detected novel coronavirus can be transmitted from human to human.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-COV).
A study of the virus’ genetic sequence suggested similarities to that seen in snakes and bats. China health officials identified the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan as the source of the transmission of the coronavirus.
On Feb 11, 2020, WHO announced the official name of the virus, Covid-19, which is an acronym for coronavirus 2019 – CO stands for corona, VI for virus and D for disease.
On Jan 30, 2020, WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak as a global emergency and on March 11, Covid-19 was declared a pandemic.
WHO has described the Covid-19 outbreak as much more dangerous than the A H1N1 Influenza, also known as Swine Flu.
Swine Flu, which occurred between January 2009 and August 2010, infected more than 1.6 million people and caused 18,449 fatalities. It was first detected in Mexico and later in the United States in March 2009.
Covid-19 was detected in Malaysia on Jan 25, 2020, when three Chinese citizens, who had entered Malaysia through Johor from Singapore on Jan 23, were tested positive for the disease.
New variants of the Covid-19 coronavirus have since emerged in the United Kingdom (identified as B117) in September 2020, South Africa (501Y.V2) in October 2020 and India (B.1.617), also in October last year.
- Bernama

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