‘Public apathy led to increased cases’

PETALING JAYA: The increasing Covid-19 cases as well as the emergence of new clusters are due to public complacency and non-compliance with standard operating procedure (SOP) to curb the spread of the disease, says Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (pic).

Dr Noor Hisham said since July 1, the ministry had recorded 15 new clusters.

In contrast, he noted that the country recorded low numbers of new cases for several days in a row three weeks ago.

On July 1, Malaysia recorded only one new Covid-19 case, with no local transmission of the virus.

However, he said case numbers have since increased, with double digit figures seen recently.

According to data obtained through the MySejahtera app from July 7 to 20, it was found that 24.8% of the individuals who have been placed under the Home Surveillance Order (HSO) did not use the Home Assessment Tool function.

“Currently, the number of travellers returning from overseas, Persons Under Surveillance (PUIs) who are required to undergo the HSO, is 31,674, and those whose quarantine period have expired are 18,416 persons.

“Of this total, 10% were found to have not undergone their Covid-19 screening on the 13th day, ” he said during a press briefing in Putrajaya yesterday.

The Home Assessment Tool is for individuals to undergo self-assessment during the 14 days of home quarantine.

Based on his observation, Dr Noor Hisham said more people were dining in restaurants, shopping at the supermarkets, as well as returning to work.

Despite this, he said that analysis of data from the MySejahtera app showed that even though user registration on the app has increased in the last three weeks, those who “checked-in” at business premises such as restaurants, supermarkets, and others have shown a downward trend.

“This shows that compliance with the SOP is declining, ” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham advised businesses and the public to comply with the SOP to break the Covid-19 infection chain in the community.

There are currently 19 active clusters in the country, with four clusters, including the Stutong and Sentosa clusters in Sarawak, recording almost daily infections this week.

The country recorded nine new Covid-19 cases yesterday, bringing total infections in the country to 8,840.

Out of the nine new cases, Dr Noor Hisham said three were imported while the rest were local transmissions.

He noted that the three imported cases involved a Malaysian and two foreigners.

Of the six local transmission cases, four were detected among Malaysians from the Sarawak clusters, while two were foreigners.

“There were five positive Covid-19 cases who are being treated in the intensive care units, with two cases requiring ventilator support, ” he said, adding that eight patients have been discharged, bringing the cumulative number of discharged cases to 8,574.

He also added that there were 143 active cases, and no new death was recorded, with the death toll remaining at 123 cases.