Cumulative cases in Malaysia close to three million

PETALING JAYA • Nearly three million people in Malaysia have been infected with the coronavirus while active cases have swelled to over 100,000.

The country has been battered by five-figure new infections for six days in a row, with the highest number of 20,939 reported yesterday, The Star reported.

The highest single-day figure was 24,599 cases last Aug 26.

Director-general of health Noor Hisham Abdullah tweeted that the latest data brought the country's cumulative tally to 2,996,361.

And as new infections edge up each day, Health Ministry data has revealed differences in booster uptake rates by ethnicity.

A table shared by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin on Twitter showed fewer than half of the ethnic Malays in the country have received a booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

As at Thursday, 47.9 per cent of Malays had received a third dose, the lowest among the three major races in Malaysia, with the coverage for the Chinese and Indians recorded at 81.3 per cent and 56.4 per cent respectively.

"Better communication is needed on Facebook as the Malays are below 50 per cent," he tweeted yesterday.

Sarawak has the highest booster shot coverage at 76.8 per cent of its population, followed by Melaka (71.9 per cent) and the Klang Valley (66.9 per cent) which includes Kuala Lumpur.

The government began administering booster shots for fully vaccinated people on Oct 13 last year.

As at yesterday, around 55.9 per cent of adults had had a booster. Seniors and those who received the Sinovac vaccine will need to receive a booster shot by March 1 or lose their fully vaccinated status.