End of Covid-19 pandemic in sight - WHO
This is Bernama’s weekly roundup on Covid-19 and related matters in Malaysia and globally from Sept 10 to noon today.
In Malaysia, cases numbers have exceeded 4.81 million and globally, the virus has infected more than 616 million people and caused over 6.52 million deaths. Some 595 million patients have so far recovered from the virus.
The Covid-19 pandemic, which is now in its third year, has affected 228 countries and territories.
KUALA LUMPUR - The end of the Covid-19 pandemic which has brought the world to a near-standstill, is near.
"Last week the number of weekly reported deaths from Covid-19 was the lowest since March of 2020,” said World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
"We have never been in a better position to end the pandemic. We are not there yet, but the end is in sight”, he told a virtual press conference from Geneva, Switzerland last Wednesday (Sept 14).
The WHO chief again urged nations to maintain their vigilance and likened the pandemic to a marathon race.
"Now is the time to run harder and make sure we cross the line and reap the rewards of all our hard work."
Countries need to take a hard look at their policies and strengthen them for Covid-19 and future viruses, Tedros said. He also urged nations to vaccinate 100 per cent of their high-risk groups and keep testing for the virus.
Meanwhile, new daily cases in Malaysia stood below 2,500 with 2,375 Covid-19 infections reported yesterday (Sept 15) including 11 imported cases.
According to CovidNow data from the Ministry of Health (MOH) as of 11.59 pm yesterday (Sept 15), seven (7) states registered three digit figures namely Selangor (683), Kuala Lumpur (458), Sabah (230), Perak (221), Melaka (113), Penang (108) and Sarawak (106).
Two digit numbers were reported in Negeri Sembilan (84), Kelantan (74), Johor (71), Kedah (70), Pahang (69), Putrajaya (47) and Terengganu (28).
One digit figure was reported in Labuan (4) and Perlis (9).
For the month of September to date, the lowest figure was reported on Sept 11 with 1,483 cases and for the previous month (August), the lowest was reported on Aug 29 with 1,946 infections.
Below are new daily Covid-19 cases during the week compiled by Bernama from Sept 10 to Sept 15:-
Sept 10 (1,971), Sept 11 (1,483), Sept 12 (1,847), Sept 13 (1,942), Sept 14 (2,431) and Sept 15 (2,375).
New daily Covid-19 cases for the previous week (Sept 3 - Sept 9) are as below:-
Sept 3 (2,244), Sept 4 (1,904), Sept 5 (1,486), Sept 6 (2,067), Sept 7 (2,428), Sept 8 (2,226) and Sept 9 (1,990).
Singapore continues to record lower new daily Covid-19 cases, with the breakdown as below:-
Sept 10 (1,824), Sept 11 (1,440), Sept 12 (1,453), Sept 13 (3,352), Sept 14 (2,426) and Sept 15 (2,423).
For the week under review, MOH has reported three (3) new clusters namely one (1) on Sept 10: Sejahtera Kaki Bukit cluster (high risk) in Kangar, Perlis (8 cases) and two (2) workplace clusters on Sept 13 namely Persiaran Bukit Kiara 3 cluster in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur (11 cases) and Jalan Mahawangsa cluster in Kinta, Perak (8 cases).
Overall, MOH has detected 7,075 clusters since the COVID-19 pandemic struck the nation more than two years ago and as of Sept 15, 20 clusters were still active.
A total of 1,466 recovered Covid-19 cases were reported, bringing the cumulative figure to 4,750,198 cases.
Data CovidNow KKM as of 11.59 pm on Sept 15 showed 25,912 cases (95.2 per cent) were quarantined at home out of 27,205 active cases.
A total of 8 cases (0.0 per cent) were at the Covid-19 Integrated Quarantine and Treatment Centre (PKRC); 1,232 cases (4.5 per cent) at hospitals; 12 cases (0.0 per cent) at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) without respiratory assistance (ABP) and 41 cases (0.2 per cent) at the ICU with ABP.
For the record, there are five categories of Covid-19 infections:-
According to MOH, Category 1 is for patients with no symptoms; Category 2 is for patients with mild symptoms; Category 3 is for patients with pneumonia; Category 4 is for patients who require supplemental oxygen; and Category 5 is for the critically ill and need to be on ventilator support at the ICU.
With a cumulative figure of 4,813,702 cases, Malaysia now stood at the 27th spot in the list of 228 countries/territories hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. (4,955,082). Ahead of Malaysia are Greece (4,838,811) and Austria (4,955,082).
According to Worldometer, of the list of 228 nations, Japan continued to record the highest new daily cases (99,546) followed by South Korea (71,432) and Russia (56,126).
On Covid-19 fatalities, the US reported the highest number of COVID-19 fatalities with 1,078,018 cases.
COVID-19 SCENARIO IN MALAYSIA
Recovered cases:-
Sept 10 (2,389), Sept 11 (2,090), Sept 12 (2,148), Sept 13 (2,276), Sept 14 (1,820) and Sept 15 (1,466).
* Cumulative recovered cases as of Sept 15 stood at 4,750,198.
Active cases with probable infections:-
Sept 10 (26,949), Sept 11 (26,339), Sept 12 (26,033), Sept 13 (25,693), Sept 14 (26,299) and Sept 15 (27,205).
The breakdown of new daily cases (2,375):-
*state-by-state as of 11.59 pm yesterday
* (imported cases)
Three digits - Selangor 683 (+0), Kuala Lumpur 453 (+5), Sabah 230 (+0), Perak 221 (+0), Melaka 111 (+2), Penang 108 (+0) and Sarawak 106 (+0).
Two digits - Negeri Sembilan 83 (+1), Kelantan 74 (+0), Johor 70 (+1), Kedah 70 (+0), Pahang 68 (+1), Putrajaya 47 (+0) and Terengganu 28 (+0).
One digit - Perlis 9 (+0) and Labuan 3 (+1).
New record cases, imported cases, local transmission:
Sept 10 - New cases 1,971; Cumulative cases 4,803,624; Imported cases 7
Sept 11 - New cases 1,483; Cumulative cases 4,805,107 ; Imported cases 2
Sept 12 - New cases 1,847; Cumulative cases 4,806,964 ; Imported cases 7
Sept 13 - Imported cases 1,942; Cumulative cases 4,808,896 ; Imported cases 9
Sept 14 - New cases 2,431; Cumulative cases 4,811,327 ; Imported cases 8
Sept 15- New cases 2,375; Cumulative cases 4,813,702 ; Imported cases 11
Breakdown of new clusters is as follows:-
Sept 10 - 1 (high risk group 1)
Sejahtera Kaki Bukit, Kangar, Perlis cluster - 8 cases
Sept 11 - no cluster
Sept 12 - no cluster
Sept 13 - 2 (workplace 2)
Persiaran Bukit Kiara 3, Kepong, Kuala Lumpur cluster (11 cases)
Jalan Mahawangsa, Kinta, Perak cluster (7 cases)
Sept 14 - no cluster
Sept 15 - no cluster
For the week under review, MOH has reported three (3) new clusters namely one (1) on Sept 10: Sejahtera Kaki Bukit (high risk group) cluster in Kangar, Perlis (8 cases) and two (2) workplace clusters on Sept 13 namely Persiaran Bukit Kiara 3 cluster in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur (11 cases) and Jalan Mahawangsa cluster in Kinta, Perak (8 cases).
Overall, MOH has detected 7,075 clusters since the COVID-19 pandemic struck the nation more than two years ago and as of Sept 15, 20 clusters were still active.
Record death cases are as below:-
*BID = Brought-in-Dead are cases outside the hospital and those brought to the hospital's forensic department; positive COVID-19 cases after PT PCR tests conducted.
Sept 10- 3 (BID 0), 1 Sept 11 - 3 (BID 1 ), Sept 12- 5 (BID 1 ), Sept 13 - 6 (BID 0 ), Sept 14 - 5 (BID 2) and Sept 15 - 3 (BID 0).
* As of yesterday, Malaysia’s COVID-19 death toll stood at 36,299 cases.
GLOBAL COVID-19 STATISTICS
According to Worldometer, total COVID-19 cases globally to date stood at 615,980,393 compared to 613,032,161 cases during the previous week with 6,525,394 deaths (previously at 6,514,558). A total of 595,111,217 recovered cases were reported from 591,164,372 cases previously.
Some 228 countries are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and those in the top 10 of the list are the US, India, France, Brazil, Germany, the United Kingdom (UK), Italy, South Korea, Russia and Turkiye.
The breakdown of the top 10 nations (+ new record daily cases) is as follows:-
US 97,430,411 (+40,692)
India 44,519,705 (+3,226)
France 34,831,399 (+33,263)
Brazil 34,610,590 (+7,928)
Germany 32,643,742 (+38,749)
South Korea 24,264,470 (+71,432)
United Kingdom 23,585,305 (+4,334)
Italy 22,114,423 (+17,973)
Japan 20,399,933 (+99,546)
Russia 20,265,004(+56,126)
Below is a breakdown of cumulative COVID-19 cases and (+new daily cases) among Southeast Asian nations, including Malaysia:-
Vietnam in the 13th spot - 11,450,999 (+2,963)
Indonesia in the 19th spot - 6,402,686 (+2.651)
Malaysia in the 27th spot - 4,813,702 (+2,375)
Thailand in the 29th spot - 4,671,309 (+1,125)
Philippines in the 38th spot - 3,913,536 (+2,141)
Singapore in the 46th spot - 1,869,591 (+2,423)
Myanmar in the 84th spot - 617,998 (+259)
Brunei in the 111th spot - 224,610 (+tiada maklumat)
Laos in the 113th spot - 215,272 (+115)
Cambodia in the 125th spot - 137,745 (+6)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
COVID-19 BACKGROUND
The World Health Organisation (WHO)’s China country office was informed of cases of pneumonia that were detected in Wuhan on Dec 31, 2019. On Jan 7, 2020 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 Johore 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 2020.
Cumulatively, Malaysia's Covid-19 cases have breached the one million mark as on July 25, with 1,013,438 cases. The first time daily cases reached the five-digit level was on July 13 with 11,079 cases.
WHO on Nov 26 designated a new variant of Covid-19, named Omicron, a variant of concern. It was first detected in Gauteng Province, South Africa.
Scientists at the IHU have detected a new variant named B.1.640.2 at end-November last year, with 46 mutations on its spike protein and nicknamed it IHU.
Meanwhile, Israel has confirmed its first case of an individual infected with 'Flurona', a term coined to describe the condition of being infected with Covid-19 and the seasonal flu simultaneously. (Jan 2, 2022).
April 1, 2022 - Malaysia enters the transition to endemic phase of Covid-19 as an exit strategy that allows Malaysians to return to normalcy after almost two years of battling Covid-19.
May 1, 2022 - On April 27, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced the easing of several restrictions, which include the lifting of the requirement for check-ins on MySejahtera effective May 1. - BERNAMA
