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KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s health chief has called for targeted closures in parts of the country, as daily coronavirus infections hit a new high of 2,593 cases on Wednesday (January 6).
Health Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said the country’s health system is at a “breaking point” as the number of active cases filled hospital beds almost to the max.
“Our concern is the daily increase in cases. The CMCO (Conditional Motion Control Order) implemented on October 14 prevented cases from reaching 4,000. We managed to avoid that, but with the 1.1 R0 (reproduction rate), we still couldn’t reduce the cases, ”Tan Sri Noor Hisham said during his daily briefing on Wednesday, referring to the partial shutdown that banned interstate travel and social media. meetings and schools closed.
The Straits Times understands that Malaysia is preparing to impose its strictest closure, the movement control order, in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Sabah, Johor, Penang and Melaka. This would mean that people must stay home except for essential activities such as shopping for food or receiving medical care, while schools, restaurants and workplaces will be closed.
Selangor continued to record the highest number of infections Wednesday, with 965 new cases, followed by Johor, which reported 571 cases. Sabah registered 405 cases, while the capital, Kuala Lumpur, registered 256 new cases.
Total active Covid-19 cases also continued to rise, reaching 24,347 cases or nearly 85 percent of the country’s 28,674 hospital beds reserved for Covid-19 patients. The country’s cumulative cases now stand at 125,438 cases since the pandemic began.
Malaysia has consistently reported daily four-digit infections since the beginning of the third wave of a pandemic that began in September last year after the Sabah state legislative elections. The previous peak in new daily infections was 2,525, reported less than a week ago.
Dr. Noor Hisham said that cases are expected to continue to rise further in the coming weeks.
Under this third wave, Malaysia had initially imposed a partial blockade covering a third of its population from mid-October to December. However, the government lifted travel restrictions on December 7 due to concerns about their impact on the economy, allowing interstate travel in time for the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
Case numbers have consistently passed the 2,000 mark over the past month, and active cases doubled over the period. Malaysia has so far recorded 513 deaths from coronavirus, with four deaths added on Wednesday.
The first batch of vaccines, which will eventually cover about 80% of the country’s 32 million people, is expected to arrive in February, and Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will be one of the first to be inoculated.
The stubbornly high coronavirus case numbers come amid continued political uncertainty in the country, following reports that Umno, the largest party in the Perikatan Nasional government of Tan Sri Muhyiddin, is again considering withdrawing its support. the prime minister, which could trigger snap elections.
Several by-elections have recently been postponed due to the pandemic.
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