A week of records – for deaths, infections and vaccinations
PETALING JAYA: While daily vaccinations reached an all-time high of 507,050 on Thursday, it was overshadowed by news of the single-day records of 199 Covid-19 deaths and 15,902 cases.
The high number of deaths remains a major concern, especially with the health ministry withholding data on the ages of the deceased, though director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had said those in their 40s and 50s were now filling up intensive care units (ICUs).
With the record high cases breaching the 15,000 mark twice over the past week, a total of 90,542 infections were reported between July 18 and July 24. Total infections now stand at 996,393.
Meanwhile, the past week saw 1,036 deaths reported, taking the toll to 7,902.
There were also 55,687 recoveries, a slight increase over the 42,068 recorded the week before, while a total of 153,633 active cases are still being treated.
Some 185 new Covid-19 clusters were detected this week, while the infection rate declined from an R0 (R-nought) of 1.15 at the start of the week to 1.11 on Friday.
As of July 23, over 16 million vaccine doses had been administered, with five million people already fully vaccinated.
FMT takes a brief look at the major headlines on Covid-19 over the past week.
Jabs that weren’t and empty syringes
At the start of the week, a video surfaced of a health worker not injecting the vaccine into a recipient’s arms despite inserting the syringe. It was later revealed to have taken place at the Sungai Petani air force camp vaccination centre (PPV), with disciplinary action taken against the worker.
Police were also probing two claims of empty syringes during vaccinations, though vaccination minister Khairy Jamaluddin said there were only a small number of such reports.
But Khairy did say recipients were free to take pictures and videos of the vaccination process for safekeeping. Previously, some PPVs did not allow pictures and videos to be taken during vaccination.
Meanwhile, health minister Dr Adham Baba said those who proved that they were “vaccinated” with empty syringes would receive new jabs, while his deputy Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said fatigue could be the reason behind these cases.
Phase 2 states see resurgence in infections
States under Phase 2 of the National Recovery Plan saw a resurgence in Covid-19 cases in the past week, exceeding the previous thresholds set when they transitioned from Phase 1.
This included Penang, which saw an average of around 421 infections per day, exceeding its threshold average of 217 Covid-19 cases per day for moving into Phase 2.
Other states under Phase 2 that saw a spike in cases were Sabah, with a seven-day average of 596, Terengganu (216), Pahang (408), Perak (352), Sarawak (362) and Kelantan (285).
However, finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz had previously said that states already in Phase 2 would not revert to Phase 1, with spikes in cases to be managed through targeted EMCOs.
More than 100 new cases of Delta variant in last 10 days
On Friday, Noor Hisham said the health ministry detected 106 new cases of the Delta Covid-19 variant in Malaysia between July 12 and 22, bringing total cases involving this variant to 189.
He had previously warned that the Delta variant could infect others in just 15 seconds and was the dominant variant in Malaysia having been detected in every state.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday also warned that the variant was expected to become the dominant strain in the coming months, after being detected in over 100 countries.
The prevalence of the variant has called into question the efficacy of Sinovac jabs although Sinovac Biotech Ltd has maintained that its two-dose vaccine is effective against the strain.
Over 800 non-Covid cases to be moved to private hospitals
On Wednesday, it was reported that more than 800 non-Covid-19 patients were to be moved out of government hospitals into private medical centres to make room for Covid-19 patients in public healthcare.
Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) president Dr Kuljit Singh said more than 38 private hospitals in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan were taking part in the programme.
While a number of elective surgeries and procedures in public hospitals within the Klang Valley had been referred to private hospitals previously, he said they were on a case-by-case basis and not on a scale comparable to the current programme. - FMT
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