The overall situation in the Epidemiological week 24, 2021 (13- 19th June 2021)
Malaysia is in the third week of Full Movement Control Order (FMCO) which was extended for another 2 weeks starting from 15 June to 28 June 2021. The continuation of FMCO was to deal with the slow trajectory of reduction in the number of Covid-19 infection and the variants of concern.
A total of 691,115 cases and 4348 deaths due to COVID 19 have been reported as of 19th June 2021. The number of new daily cases ranges from 4949 to 6440 over the past week which showed improvement and declined as compared to the highest reported Covid-19 cases of 9,020 on May 29. However, the slow reduction of cases and the emerging of new clusters involving the workplace were still a concern. The nationwide vaccination program was recently reported to cover 12% of the population with at least 1 dose of Covid19 vaccination.
A highlight of the week
Malaysia reported 38,911 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 142 clusters this week, of which more than two-third (96 clusters) involving the workplace. The 7 days moving average was 5541 cases on 15 June that steadily increases to 5558 cases (19 June). The number of reported deaths was slightly reducing in trend with 504 deaths reported during this Epid week 24 compared to 553 (Epid week 23) and 641 (Epid week22). The highest reported brought in death (BID) was 11 cases per day.
Trends in reported cases, and hospitalization
The national time-varying reproductive number (Rt) had stabilized to slightly below 1.0 and this overall transmissibility had reduced after the initiation of FMCO in early June. Negeri Sembilan, Kedah and Perlis have a higher reported Rt level 1.1,1.2 and 1.5 respectively. Pahang, Terengganu, Sabah, Labuan and Putrajaya reported lower than the national Rt with reducing trend.
The demands for intensive care and health care strain were still apparent with the general bed utilization of more than 100% and ICU utilization of 54.2%. The graph showed the daily positivity rate and positivity rate of the 7-day average in Epid week 24 was creeping up. The low number of test conducted daily ( less than 100 000) will artificially conceal the actual number of Covid-19 case.
Reflection
A substantial proportion of Covid-19 cases were due to workplace cluster. Thus, enforcement of standard operating procedures (SOPs) in the workplace should be enhanced to further curb Covid-19 infections. A concerted effort should be put in place by following a stringent SOP and accelerating the Covid-19 vaccination program. Recent outreach COVID-19 vaccinations effort and collaboration for Program Imunisasi Industri COVID-19 Kerjasama Awam-Swasta (PIKAS) is hoped to expedite and enable mass Covid-19 vaccinations program in Malaysia.
Report prepared by Dr Nur Nadiatul Asyikin Bujang, DrPH candidate from University Malaya, and revised by Datuk Prof Dr Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud.
The report is based on the information from Covid-19 Epidemiology for Malaysia dashboard (SPM website) and the Ministry of Health Malaysia daily updates.
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