Malaysia records seven new Covid-19 cases, lowest in three months

CORONAVIRUS | Malaysia today recorded seven new Covid-19 cases, the lowest in three months.

It is also the first time the country recorded only a single-digit increase in new cases since March 12.

The last time the country recorded seven or fewer cases was on March 8, before the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) which only came into effect on March 18.

The country recorded six new Covid-19 cases on March 8 and nine new cases on March 12.

Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah told a press briefing in Putrajaya today that the new cases today comprised two imported infections and five local transmissions.

They make up five Malaysians and two migrants.

Elaborating on the infection involving Malaysians, Noor Hisham said two were close contacts of Patient 8,294 in Sepang, Selangor.

One was from the Bukit Jalil immigration detention depot where there is an existing outbreak.

The remaining two were found in Sabah, one from an eight-month-old baby during a pre-operation screening at a hospital in Likas while another was from a community screening in Kota Kinabalu.

A total of 10,268 tests were conducted yesterday out. At present, both government and private labs can conduct a total of 34,951 swab tests for Covid-19.

With the new infections, the country has recorded 8,329 total cumulative Covid-19 cases.

Noor Hisham also reported 20 more Covid-19 patients have been discharged, bringing the total recoveries to 6,694 or 80.4 percent of total cases.

Another 1,518 Covid-19 patients are under treatment, of which six are in the intensive care unit (ICU). Out of the Covid-19 patients in ICU, one requires a ventilator to breathe.

No new death was reported, keeping the death toll at 117 or 1.4 percent of total Covid-19 cases.

Second wave of dengue cases

While Covid-19 cases are a downtrend, Noor Hisham raised concerns about dengue.

He said while the dengue cases from January until June 6 have gone down compared to the same period last year, the number of deaths has increased.

The country recorded 48,584 dengue cases during the period for this year compared to 54,524 cases during the same period last year.

It also recorded 84 deaths in the same period this year compared to 83 deaths in the same period last year.

Noor Hisham said 11 percent of patients sought treatment late, which is three weeks after the onset of dengue symptoms.

He added that there is an average of eight percent increase in new dengue cases each week for the last six weeks.

Noor Hisham based on previous trends, the Health Ministry is predicting a second wave of dengue cases from June to September.

He said this may be aggravated by people returning to places of work which have been left vacant for a long period of time due to the movement control order, giving an opportunity for Aedes mosquitoes to breed.

"Considering this, the public is urged to ensure cleanliness within their premises, particularly in places where water can accumulate and other places which are potential breeding grounds for mosquitoes," he said.

Noor Hisham said all premises should have its surroundings cleaned weekly and areas which have not seen operations for a period of time should be sprayed with aerosol insecticide.

He also urged people who display dengue-like symptoms to immediately seek treatment.