Active Covid cases in Malaysia on the decline

Malaysia recorded a downward trend for average active Covid-19 cases for the 43rd epidemiological week (EW).

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said for the 42nd EW from Oct 24 to 30, average active cases showed a 15% drop from 83,605 cases (42nd EW) to 70,829 cases (43rd EW).

“Active cases have been dropping since eight weeks ago. Also, new Covid-19 cases show a drop of 2.2% from 41,508 cases (42nd EW) to 40,613 cases (43rd EW).

“The fatality rate however, increased by 5.2% compared to the previous epidemiological week (42nd EW),” he said in a statement.

Noor Hisham said cases requiring intensive care treatment dropped by 12% from 571 cases throughout the 42nd EW to 505 cases for the 43rd EW.

Meanwhile, cases requiring respiratory support dropped by 14.4% from 250 cases to 214 cases. This decline has been ongoing for the past 11 weeks.

Kelantan, Putrajaya and Melaka reported the highest rate of cases for every 10,000 residents.

Meanwhile, 46 clusters were reported in the 43rd EW, 25 of which involved workplaces, followed by education institutions (nine), communities (seven) and high-risk groups (five).

“Education institution clusters rose following the reopening of institutions of higher education during the 41st EW,” Noor Hisham said.

On hospital capacity, he said the health ministry had allocated 26,522 beds at Covid-19 low-risk quarantine and treatment centres (PKRC), 14,963 normal ward beds, 1,345 ICU beds and 2,804 respirators to treat Covid-19 patients, suspected cases and cases under investigation.

The occupancy of beds in PKRCs, normal wards and ICU showed a downward trend of between 2% and 6% in the 43rd EW compared to the 42nd EW.