THE Ministry of Health (MoH) expects the country’s daily Covid-19 case to show a decline within the next week or two, said director-general of health Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said the spike in new cases over the last few days was due to targeted screenings, especially in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, which are currently under enhanced movement control order (EMCO).

“The MoH had expected that with the lockdown in the Klang Valley areas, the daily cases will increase due to the implementation of the targeted and community screenings.

“However, I am confident that with better movement control methods, we will see a more stable total number of cases as well as a drop within a week or two. At the same time, the vaccination process must be expedited,” he said.   

Noor Hisham is hopeful that the country’s vaccination drive and the movement control order would flatten the curve again. 
 
He also warned that the country should not rush to open economy sectors, which may trigger a surge in new infections. 

He said continued compliance by all parties and stricter enforcement of the standard operating procedure is needed to contain the virus, especially workplace transmissions. 

Noor Hisham said that MoH is actively increasing hospital bed capacity to accommodate Category Four and Category Five patients. 

“The problem we face is that the Category Four and Category Five patients take a long time to be treated in the ICU, between two to five weeks, including requiring ventilators.

“These are the constraints we face because the number of patients in Category Four and Category Five is also increasing. That’s why the MOH is doing its best to increase the hospitals’ capacity,” he said.

There are five Covid-19 patient categories. Category one are asymptomatic patients. Category two are patients with mild symptoms. Category three are patients with moderate symptoms. Category Four are patients with severe symptoms that require oxygen. Category five are patients in critical state, which may require assisted ventilation.

Yesterday, Malaysia hit a record high of 9,353 new cases, with 29 new clusters, including 19 linked to workplaces. – Bernama, July 11, 2021.