Malaysia Covid-19 pandemic weighed down by over 250 active clusters to record high 3,027 cases

According to Dr Noor Hisham, the Ministry of Health (MOH) is currently studying new strategies which will be submitted to the National Security Council (NSC) for consideration in view of the rise in new infections. - REUTERS

 

 Yesterday, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah announced 3,027 new cases, the highest-ever daily figure reported since the first few COVID-19 cases were detected in Malaysia in January 2020.

Yesterday’s new infections were made up of 3,021 local transmissions and six imported cases. The local infections involved 1,577 (52.2 percent) Malaysians and 1,444 non-citizens.

Earlier this week, Dr Noor Hisham expressed the government’s concern over the spiralling numbers and said that healthcare facilities were struggling to cope with the steep rise in new cases.

For the record, during the week under review, 2,295 new cases were reported on Saturday, Jan 2; 1,704 (Sunday), 1,741 (Monday), 2,027 (Tuesday), 2,563 (Wednesday and 3,027 (yesterday).

The spike in new cases since October last year also prompted the government to extend the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO), which was supposed to end on Dec 31, by another three months to March 31.

With its cumulative total of 128,465 COVID-19 cases, Malaysia – which occupied the 71st spot yesterday in the list of 216 countries hit by the pandemic – is now at the 69th spot, overtaking Ethiopia (126,786 cases) and Myanmar (128,178 cases).

China, where the coronavirus was first detected at the end of 2019, stood at the 82nd spot with 87,278 cases, while Malaysia’s neighbour Singapore is at the 88th spot with 58,813 cases.

When Malaysia recorded 22,089 active cases on Monday (Jan 4), Dr Noor Hisham voiced his concern over the nation’s ability to accommodate patients at the various Quarantine and Low-Risk Centres and hospitals gazetted to treat COVID-19 cases as the facilities’ maximum capacity was 23,000.

At his media briefing on Wednesday, he said stricter measures may have to be implemented as a circuit breaker to prevent further spikes in new cases.

According to Dr Noor Hisham, the Ministry of Health (MOH) is currently studying new strategies which will be submitted to the National Security Council (NSC) for consideration in view of the rise in new infections after the ban on interstate and inter-district travel was lifted on Dec 7.

A targeted movement control order is expected to be imposed which will take into consideration COVID-19 cases and clusters in each state and district.

Dr Noor Hisham said MOH was not able to bring down the R-naught (R0) value to 0.5 as projected earlier to flatten the infection curve. The R0 value currently stood at 1.1 and is expected to rise to 1.2 or higher.

In a post on his personal Facebook account yesterday, he said if the R0 value remained at 1.2, daily new cases will reach 3,000 in the second week of February; 5,000 in the second week of April; and 8,000 in the fourth week of May.

The R0 value refers to the infectivity of a virus at the start of an outbreak in a community and indicates the average number of people who can be infected by the virus concerned.

The easing of travel restrictions has reportedly led to the emergence of five clusters, namely Intan, Semanbu and Tembok Mempaga in Pahang; Seragam Chepa in Kelantan; and Ehsan Ibol in Perak.

Apart from that, as of Monday, there were nine clusters related to social activities and gatherings.

Dr Noor Hisham also said that MOH may place asymptomatic and mild cases at quarantine centres now reserved for travellers returning from overseas.

The matter has already been discussed with NSC, he said, adding that the ministry may also collaborate with the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) on this matter.

“The war against the COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet. In fact, it is getting tougher.” Dr Noor Hisham’s grim words at the start of the new year must be taken seriously as Malaysia has been struggling with four-figure new case numbers since the third wave of infections erupted towards the end of September 2020.

Another worrying development is the emergence of a new COVID-19 variant in the United Kingdom which has reportedly been detected in other nations such as the United States, Canada, China and Singapore.

Known as B117, the new strain is said to be 70 percent more infectious and can spread easily to others.

South Africa, meanwhile, has identified a new variant of the coronavirus, referred to as 501Y.V2, which is behind 80 to 90 per cent of new cases reported in that country. Nigeria has also reported a new COVID-19 variant.

Workplace clusters, including those involving construction sites, have continued to contribute to new daily cases reported by the nation.

As of now, Malaysia has reported 579 clusters, out of which 316 have ended. Currently, 254 clusters are still active, with 52 of them reporting new cases. The latter include Bukit Pasir cluster (779 cases), Dataran Utas cluster (156) and Beringin cluster (101).

The Bukit Pasir cluster is in Muar, Johor, and was reported on Dec 24. The Dataran Utas cluster is in Petaling district, Selangor, and was announced on Jan 6, while the Beringin cluster, involving the workers of two factories in Penang, was announced on Nov 27.

Among the workplace clusters responsible for a high number of positive cases is the Seri Lanang cluster, which was announced on Dec 25 with 173 cases. On Jan 6, it recorded another 504 cases.

This cluster involves the districts of Klang, Gombak, Kuala Selangor and Petaling in Selangor.

The biggest cluster so far is the Teratai cluster involving the workers of Top Glove factories in Klang. It recorded 6,374 cases. Following this, the government issued a directive for all foreign workers in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Sabah and Labuan to undergo COVID-19 screening effective Dec 1, 2020.

As of Jan 4, a total of 99,084 foreign workers have been screened with 2,079 of them testing positive for COVID-19.

Over the 24-hour period up to noon yesterday, 2,145 COVID-19 patients were discharged, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 102,723 (80.0 percent of total COVID-19 cases).

Currently, 142 patients are in the intensive care unit with 63 of them requiring respiratory aid.

MOH reported another eight deaths yesterday and Malaysia’s COVID-19 death toll now stood at 521 (0.41 percent of total cases).

During the week under review, nine fatalities were reported on Jan 2, 11 (Jan 3), seven (Monday), eight (Tuesday), four (Wednesday) and eight (yesterday).

Yesterday, Johor recorded the highest number of new cases at 1,103, with 950 cases from existing clusters and 57 from the new Senai Murni cluster.

Selangor reported 706 new cases with 232 from existing clusters, including 64 from the new Damai Pelangi cluster (involving a detention centre in Hulu Selangor district) and Hartamas construction site cluster.

Sabah reported 493 cases with 363 contributed by screenings of close contacts; and Kuala Lumpur 316 of which 136 were from existing clusters including 118 from the new Jalan Ipoh construction site cluster, Rungkup cluster, Desa Setapak cluster and Jalan Jaya cluster.

Penang reported 111 new cases; Kelantan 66; Negeri Sembilan 63; Perak 59; Kedah 30; Pahang 25; Putrajaya 17; Sarawak 14; Melaka 11; Terengganu 10; and Labuan three.

-- BERNAMA 

 

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Basics of palliative care

 

 

 

Palliative Care: YOU Are a BRIDGE
https://youtu.be/lDHhg76tMHc

THE process of dying and the death of loved ones create a profound and lasting impact on their families and wider communities.

As a society, we are not exposed enough to be fully equipped to support end-of-life journeys.

We need to be able to normalise the process of death and have the courage to advocate for a holistic care plan not by just buying insurance policies but also by showing love, empathy and compassion. This is known as palliative care, which may begin at the start of life-threatening illnesses to end-of-life journeys.

Dame Cicely Saunders, founder of the modern hospice, described palliative care in its most holistic sense: “You matter because you are you, and you matter to the end of your life. We will do all we can not only to help you die peacefully, but also to live until you die.”

Palliative care regards dying as a normal process in the journey of life, integrating psychological and spiritual dimensions into patient care. A holistic approach care plan enables patients and families to better cope with the course of the illness and provides a support network for bereavement care.

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of palliative care in all healthcare systems. The need for relief from severe suffering, the difficult decision-making and complicated grief brought on by the pandemic are exactly the types of problems that palliative care was designed to help address.

My father, who is a consultant haematologist, treats cancer patients, among other life-threatening blood disorders, and fully supports palliative care causes. I, as a tech start-up builder, believe that blockchain, AI and other automation technologies will drive the future of society. Despite our different calling in life, I also join my father in fully supporting palliative care as essential care for vulnerable members of our community.

We both fully recognise that palliative care does not start and stop with doctors and nurses alone. The success of effective and affordable palliative care lies in the hands of an informed society.

Hospices in Malaysia and Singapore are typically independent non-profit entities run by community members on charitable donations and volunteerism.

Ultimately, palliative care is a community-driven initiative. All of us have a part to play as family caregivers, pastoral caretakers, therapists, healthcare professionals and more.

Through a journey I’ve undertaken as a volunteer carer in a hospice, I have developed a genuine understanding of the principles of palliative care in practice. Hospice environments provide a powerful example of how we as a community can show love, empathy and compassion when facing fear and loss of loved ones.

What matters to patients who are actively dying include relief from pain, maintaining one’s dignity, not dying alone, and having a comforting hand to touch during their end-of-life journey.

Community volunteers can support palliative care nurses and doctors by assisting with non-clinical pain management, such as cleaning and feeding of patients, providing wheelchair assistance, and spending time with patients. These acts of love for others are what truly makes us human.

Through volunteering in a hospice, I was able to face the mirror of death and fully embrace my humanity by showing love, empathy and compassion for the suffering of others – something that technology or AI machines can never truly replicate.

Let’s all do our part today to build a palliative care-aware society, whether it is through advocacy, community volunteerism or giving.

KATHERINE NG LI PEI
Co-founder of Ministry for Good, a non-profit start-up to scale technology for good

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Big Macau Scam ring busted

 

Syndicate invested in cryptocurrency worth more than RM336mil

JOHOR BARU: Police have crippled a major Macau Scam syndicate which used its ill-gotten gains to buy property and invest in cryptocurrency totalling more than RM336mil.

At least 12 suspects – nine men and three women – were arrested in a series of raids in Penang and Kuala Lumpur last month.

Among the suspects were company directors. 

Johor police chief Comm Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay ( pic) said in Ops Pelican 2.0, police uncovered an intricate web of how the syndicate operated, including the identity of the mastermind, numerous mule accounts, fake companies and investments.

Victims who have been duped by the syndicate would first be told to transfer money into a mule account.

“The money is then channelled to another mule account belonging to another company,” he said, adding that all the mule accounts belonged to syndicate members and were designed not to leave a money trail.

Comm Ayob said the funds were then transferred to a property developer in Penang to purchase property and invest in Bitcoins.

“This modus operandi aimed to avoid detection from the authorities and was their way of money laundering,” he said during a press conference at the Johor police headquarters yesterday.

To date, police have found 91 mule accounts comprising 73 company bank accounts and 18 personal accounts.

“Since June last year, some RM25mil has been used to make progress payment for 100 condominium and commercial units in George Town,” he said.

Based on the Sale and Purchase Agreements, two companies are involved in property acquisition in 2015 totalling RM336mil.

Comm Ayob said the two companies belonged to the 55-year-old mastermind who has a criminal record. He is believed to have fled the country and is currently hiding in Thailand.

The man’s two sons are directors in the companies.

“Our investigations showed that some of the proxies and directors in the bogus companies are paid RM16,000 monthly,” he said.

The 12 suspects, aged between 29 and 68, have since been released on police bail.

Police are probing the case under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.

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You carry your smartphone everywhere. But the way you use it could leave you vulnerable to specific forms of identity theft, including robocall scams and hackers looking to hijack your phone number. — AP

Malaysians staying home less despite third wave; Beating Covid-19 in 2021 required managing time, risk and ambition

Report shows more people going out again after Dec 7

Since the start of the conditional movement control order in May, the amount of time Malaysians spent at home has mostly been on a downward trend even as Covid-19 cases soared in the past few months.

This is one of the insights from Oxford University’s Our World in Data portal (ourworldindata.org), which analysed a report from Google that tracks the movement of people in more than 130 countries since the pandemic began.

Google’s Covid- 19 Community Mobility Report records changes in the number of visitors each day to various types of locations such as workplaces, and retail and recreational areas.

The report, based on data Google collects from users who have their location history setting turned on, also measures the change in the amount of time people spend at home each day.

The daily changes are compared with a baseline figure taken from before the pandemic, which is the median value over the five-week period from Jan 3 to Feb 6, 2020.

Charts created by Our World in Data based on the Google report shows how the movement of people, including in Malaysia, changed throughout the pandemic.

When Covid-19 first emerged, many Malaysians were still spending their days mostly at their workplaces or other locations instead of being at home.

That changed after the MCO was introduced on March 18.

On March 27, time spent at home shot up with a 36.14% increase compared with the baseline period while the number of visitors to workplaces fell to negative 63.71% due to MCO restrictions.

Malaysians, however, started venturing out of their homes more following the introduction of the conditional MCO on May 4.

The conditional MCO relaxed some of the earlier restrictions, with most economic sectors and activities allowed to operate with physical distancing.

As a result, time spent at home started falling and on Aug 30 hit a low of just 4.57% more than the baseline.

The start of a third wave of Covid19 cases since Sept 20 saw a relatively brief increase in time spent at home.

However, the figure fell again especially after Dec 7 when restrictions on inter-district and interstate travel were lifted, with the exception of areas under the enhanced MCO

Beating Covid-19 in 2021: Managing time, risk and ambition

Think bigger: We must reimagine a a new social contract for health, one that protects citizens and non-citizens in fair, sustainable and politically acceptable ways. 

 VERY often in the pandemic of 2020, we found ourselves in situations with no good choices. That's normal. This is a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic with no useful policy textbooks or manuals. Public health experts and scientists raced to understand Covid-19, and we continue to learn more. Political leaders and policymakers struggled to deploy old solutions for a vast new problem.

It's now 11 months since Malaysia's first Covid-19 case. As we forge ahead into 2021, I humbly offer three strategies for Malaysia's national health: to use time wisely; to stabilise our tolerance levels of risk; and to match our solutions to the size of the problem. This will help us in our second year with Covid-19.

Firstly, Malaysia must use time wisely. In other words, we must prepare for future problems today, instead of waiting for the problems to arrive. For example, we had four months between June-Sept 2020 when we had very few cases. That quiet period came after a national MCO sacrifice of two months. We may not have utilised that four quiet months effectively.

Some of the problems in the third wave are similar to the problems in the first two waves. Examples include the living conditions of foreign workers, the speed and scale of testing and isolating, effective contact tracing using apps, data sharing from the Health Ministry, and coordination between federal-state responses.

This is why Malaysia must use time wisely in 2021. Quiet periods or not, the government must use time to rebuild, strengthen infrastructure and implement long-term durable solutions. Two specific examples include building the vaccine infrastructure before the first stocks arrive in Feb 2021, and to deliver a clear management plan when we find positive Covid-19 cases during the mass testing of foreign workers starting in Jan 2021.

In the second year of the pandemic, we cannot fight the same problems as in the first year. We must get these old problems under control, and then solve new ones. That means we must use our time wisely, and not waste it.

The second strategy for national health in 2021 is to stabilise our tolerance levels for risk. After one year, it seems like we are willing to tolerate much higher levels of risk, compared to the early stages of the pandemic. This can be dangerous. We must have a stable tolerance level of risk, not increasingly tolerate more and more risk.

Here's an example. In March, we had approximately 100-300 daily new cases. In December, we had approximately 850-2300 daily new cases. Despite this dramatic increase, everyone has started taking Covid-19 lightly. Government entities are no longer marching to the same disciplined tune as in the beginning of the pandemic and appear to be more relaxed. Citizens are no longer consistently wearing masks or physically distancing.

There may be reasons why we take it lightly. We all have pandemic fatigue and want our old lives back. Malaysia may have 2000 daily cases in December, but we feel better when comparing it to Indonesia's 5000-8000 cases or the United Kingdom's 13,000-53,000 cases in the same month. These are understandable, but dangerous.

We cannot take Covid-19 lightly. We cannot endlessly tolerate increasing amounts of pandemic risk. I do not think a second full lockdown will work to help avoid it. But I do not believe that we can endlessly tolerate more risk and assume that we will never need it.

What I do support is a stable level of risk tolerance. In other words, take Covid-19 consistently seriously until we are all safe. A pandemic continues to rage around us. To government agencies, take things seriously, communicate better, use time wisely and prepare for future problems. To citizens, wear your masks and stay home where possible. Don't let the increasing numbers numb us into thinking that we can endlessly tolerate more risk.

The third and final strategy for national health in 2021 is to match our solutions to the size of the pandemic. In other words, we need solutions that are proportional to the size of the problem. After one year of fighting Covid-19, we know that our pre-2020 solutions, tools and policies are inadequate. Covid-19 is simply too big for any old solutions.

In the early stages, all governments are forgiven if they don't know what to do. After one year of Covid-19, all governments lose that excuse. Given the scale of Covid-19, we need ambitious, imaginative and Very Big solutions to a Very Big problem. In other words, unprecedented problems need unprecedented solutions, not old, timid and ineffective solutions.

This means that our government must aim much higher in 2021. We need new ways to deliver history's most important vaccination program, as safely, effectively and quickly as possible. We must reimagine a new social contract for health, that protects citizens and non-citizens in fair, sustainable and politically acceptable ways. We can integrate our non-health and health infrastructure to enable better contact tracing, such as South Korea's use of credit card transactions and China's use of QR codes. We need a true whole-of-society response.

In the first year, governments can be forgiven for relying on what they are familiar with. In the second year, governments must respond to Covid-19 in much bigger ways. This once-in-a-lifetime problem requires once-in-a-lifetime solutions. Only then can we beat this pandemic.

The Covid-19 pandemic will define not just 2020, but the 2020s. The strategic choices we make in 2021 will define how effectively Malaysia manages Covid-19 and recovers from it. This new year let us make three resolutions as a country: to use our time wisely, to stabilise our tolerance of risk, and to bring ambitious giant solutions to a giant problem. — Sin Chew Daily/Asia News Network

Dr Khor Swee Kheng is an independent consultant for the World Health Organisation. The views expressed here are solely his own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Star. 

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Happy New Year 2021: Stay Home to stay Safe

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Health experts say the current Covid-19 situation in the country is not favourable for social gatherings even for welcoming the New Year.

“Current active cases have exceeded 21,000 and daily numbers are close to 2,000. We should not expose ourselves to any risk of infection,” said Universiti Putra Malaysia medical epidemiologist Assoc Prof Dr Malina Osman.

“We should also not strain our healthcare system further.”

The conditional movement control order (MCO) was eased for the sake of the country’s economy, and not for engaging in big social crowds or family gatherings, said Dr Malina.

She advised the public to continue to comply with SOP, as the vaccine was yet to be made available locally.

“Hopefully the vaccine will reach our country soon. Singapore has started the vaccination for their frontliners today (yesterday) and their cases are much lower compared to us, we have to be more consistent and vigilant against Covid-19.

“Or we can expect early next year to be markedly different from our neighbouring country,” she said.

Universiti Malaya professor of epidemiology and public health Prof Dr Sanjay Rampal said for the next few weeks, it was important to do two things.

“First, avoid being in congested and confined areas for prolonged durations. It may be hard at times to maintain the minimum 1m physical distancing but we have to.

“Second, there may be a need to maintain a social circle for longterm emotional and psychosocial support, but avoid a large bubble, and restrict mixing across networks,” he said.

For New Year celebrations, Dr Sanjay suggested that the public usher in the New Year by staying at home.

Large gatherings, if any, should be held in big, open spaces while practising physical distancing, he said, adding that the location should have sufficient amenities to promote good sanitation and hygiene.

Medical Practitioners Coalition Association of Malaysia president Dr Raj Kumar Maharajah concurred that celebrations should be held in open areas with good ventilation to reduce the probability of getting infected.

Dr Raj said air conditioned and closed spaces without good ventilation posed a risk to people.

“Malaysians can celebrate in open areas by observing the SOP laid out by the Health Ministry. Use your face mask, observe social distancing, and wash and sanitise your hands regularly,” he said.

Going into the new year, Dr Raj believed there would not be “total freedom”.

“There will still be restrictions for the whole of next year. Hopefully, the vaccine can ease that for us. However, let’s remain positive and hope for the best,” he said.

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