‘Don’t go out unless necessary’

PUTRAJAYA: As Selangor continues to record high numbers of Covid-19 infections, the Health Ministry has cautioned residents of the state not to go out unnecessarily.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said for eight days in a row, Selangor had recorded the highest number of Covid-19 cases.

“Before the transmission of Covid-19 had spread in Selangor, we had predicted that this would happen because of the large population, the frequent movement as well as the emergence of clusters at workplaces.

“Now that the cases have spread within the community, we are advising Selangor residents to stay at home if there is no pressing reason to be outside.

“Avoid crowded places and practise good hygiene.

“These preventive measures are the only vaccination we have against Covid-19 right now, ” said Dr Noor Hisham at a press conference.

Yesterday, Selangor recorded 535 Covid-19 cases or 39.7% of the country’s total 1,348 new infections.

This was followed by Kuala Lumpur with 226 cases or 16.8%, and Sabah with 189 cases (14%).

Cumulatively, the country has recorded 98,737 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic.

There were five new deaths, pushing the death toll to 444.

The country also discharged 710 patients, bringing the number of recoveries to 80,014 people.

Currently, 102 patients are in intensive care, with 44 of them requiring ventilator support.

On a separate matter, Dr Noor Hisham said the Health Ministry was looking to speed up its process of evaluating Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine and complete its dossier in less than 90 days.

He said the government could grant the American pharmaceutical company a conditional registration, in which the firm must submit all latest data when available.

“In a normal situation, the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) would take about 90 to 120 days to evaluate a vaccine or medicine before it can be registered.

“If everything is in accordance, we can grant a conditional registration before March.

“We will do our best to complete the required process in less than 90 days, ” he said.

“But the company must continuously furnish the latest data for us to evaluate.

“This could be information on whether the vaccine is effective towards certain mutations or whether there are complications or side effects after immunisation.

“It must all be done according to NPRA’s procedures, ” he added.

On Dec 15, the NPRA had received a formal application from Pfizer to have its Covid-19 vaccine registered in Malaysia, with engagement sessions with the company scheduled at the end of the month.