‘Covid-19 cases to drop soon’

KLANG: The number of Covid-19 cases is expected to drop next month, says Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.

He said the current Covid-19 situation was being monitored based on four criteria, namely the number of infections, deaths, admissions to the intensive care unit (ICU) and the burden faced by health facilities, especially hospitals.

“Insya-Allah, by January, (cases) will come down, let’s pray together,” he said at the Amanah national convention here yesterday, Bernama reported.

On Saturday, Dzulkefly said that Covid-19 cases recorded in the 51st Epidemiological Week from Dec 17 to 22 increased by 29.5% to 22,413 cases compared with 17,307 cases recorded in the previous week.

He added that actions taken by the Health Ministry (MOH) were according to current needs and systematic, and not only looking at the increasing number of cases.

“Some are angry because it is not mandatory to wear a face mask. But I will not be influenced by an emotional approach and what I do is evidence-based, which is subject to the heightened alert system (HAS), and that will continue,” he said.

He said in the event of drastic changes, the MOH would refer to the four criteria set.

Dzulkefly had previously advised those who were symptomatic and in crowded places to wear a mask.

He said the government did not intend to reinstate restrictions such as the movement control order at present, despite the recent spike in Covid-19 cases in Malaysia.

He said the situation was under control and the ministry was ready to handle any eventuality.

Dzulkefly also said the ministry had prepared a five-point strategy to deal with the increase in the number of cases.

These included early case detection via the HAS, community tracing via TRIIS (test, report, isolate, inform and seek), monitoring of health facilities, effective risk communication and digitisation of the health system via the MySejahtera application.