ISKANDAR PUTERI (Bernama): The high Covid-19 infectivity rate (R-Naught) of over 1.0 recorded by the state should serve as a reminder to remain vigilant in efforts to curb the spread of the virus, the 14th Johor State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting was told today.
State Health and Environment Committee chairman R. Vidyananthan said Johor registered an R-naught of 1.14 on Aug 1 last year and it slightly dipped to 1.1 on Sept 5.
He said the community’s movement and non-compliance with the prescribed standard operating procedures (SOPs) contributed to the spread of the virus in the community, adding that all state assemblymen should play a role in efforts to contain the virus infections by conveying the correct information to the people.
"Hence they can take the right measures to protect themselves, their families and the community from getting Covid-19 infection," he said during the winding-up session on the last day of the sitting today.
As of Sept 3, Johor remained among the 11 states that recorded an R-naught rate above the national average of 0.97.
On the Covid-19 Quarantine and Low-Risk Treatment Centre (PKRC), he said it had received three applications to open a private PKRC in the Johor Bahru district, adding that the state health department was also reviewing the need to open a new public PKRC in the northern zone to accommodate the high number of Covid-19 patients.
Currently, there were three public PKRCs set up in the state namely Pasir Gudang Indoor Stadium, Olive B at Permai Hospital and Sri Danga with a total of 2,156 beds and another 1,200 beds at the DB Complex private PKRC.
He said as of Sept 5, Johor recorded an increase of 2,165 cases, bringing the total cumulative tally of cases to 149,358.
Meanwhile, on the ongoing conflict between man and elephants, Vidyananthan said the state Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) had received 210 complaints from villagers in the Kota Tinggi district, following which 716 operations had been carried out by the department to monitor and control the situation.
Apart from mounting 24 operations to capture these elephants and relocate them to their new habitats, Perhilitan had also taken the initiative to instal satellite collars on the wild animals to obtain detailed information of their movements in efforts to form cooperation with the plantations affected by elephant attacks. - Bernama
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