Malaysia sees highest daily tally of 7,478 Covid-19 cases

PUTRAJAYA • Malaysia yesterday reported 7,478 new coronavirus cases, its highest daily rise in infections since the start of the pandemic, after the health director-general warned of a "vertical surge" in cases.

The latest figure brings the total cumulative number of infections in the country to 533,367.

The health director-general, Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, warned on Tuesday that the next two weeks are critical as the worst may still come following a continuous surge in new cases.

"The rise in cases started on April 1 and could trigger a vertical surge. We need to prepare for the worst. Please help us by staying at home. Only together we can break the chain of infection," he said in a Twitter post.

Dr Noor Hisham advised the public to stay at home and comply strictly with the standard operating procedure (SOP) in case of an emergency or attendance at work.

The Health Ministry has discovered new cases of the B1351 variant - first detected in South Africa - in Kedah, Perlis, Selangor and Johor. It has also detected a new case involving the B1617 variant that was first found in India in Labuan.

"The third movement control order has been implemented taking into consideration the global pandemic situation and the emergence of variants of concern in the community," said Dr Noor Hisham, referring to restrictions imposed to control the pandemic.

"As we know, these variants have higher infectivity and have caused more deaths. Therefore, people are advised to practise 'self-lockdown' and stay at home for the next two weeks as much as possible.

"We need to do this to break the chain of Covid-19 infections in Malaysia."

Selangor yesterday remained the state with the highest number of new cases, with a total of 2,455 infections. This was followed by Kuala Lumpur (760), Sarawak (640) and Johor (587).

Nationwide, the Covid-19 death toll stood at 2,432 yesterday after 63 new fatalities were reported.

New Covid-19 cases have stayed above 6,000 for seven straight days and the Health Ministry has said the tally may exceed 8,000 by next month if people do not follow virus protocols.

The Johor ruler, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, yesterday urged the government to consider a full lockdown if Covid-19 numbers continue to go up.

"We must not only be disciplined enough to stay home, but must realise that by going to public places or even just a neighbour's home, we could get ourselves infected unknowingly, or we could be carrying the virus and passing it on to others. It is selfish to only think of ourselves! Think of others too!" Sultan Ibrahim wrote on his Facebook page.

"The government should consider a full lockdown as well, if Covid numbers show no sign of abating," he added. "Let's swallow the bitter pill now, instead of suffering continuously in limbo."

Meanwhile, the chairman of Prasarana, a government-owned public transport operator, had his services terminated yesterday after drawing public backlash for wearing a face shield instead of a mask during a press conference on a recent Light Rail Transit collision.

Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman said he had thought that wearing a face shield was good enough to comply with the Covid-19 SOP. Police said they are investigating the Pasir Salak MP for failing to abide by the SOP.

REUTERS, THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK, BLOOMBERG