PUTRAJAYA: No surge in Covid-19 cases is expected during the upcoming festive celebrations, says the Health Ministry.

Its director-general, Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, said daily Covid-19 cases and hospitalisation rates were also on a downward trend.

He said there are several strategies taken to tackle the spread of Covid-19, the first being to monitor Covid-19 case trends and wastewater samples to detect any new variants.

Dr Noor Hisham then said that stricter Covid-19 mitigation measures will be considered if certain criteria are detected.

This includes a surge in the number of imported cases, the presence of new variants besides Omicron and if there is an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases

He said this at a press conference at the Health Ministry on Tuesday.

An increase in hospitalisations due to Covid-19 will also see the Health Ministry consider stricter Covid-19 mitigation measures, he said.

He added that the Covid-19 variant called XBB.1.5 discovered in the United States has yet to be detected in Malaysia.

“Despite that, we are still monitoring Covid-19 variants and their potential mutations,” he said.

On whether the upcoming Thaipusam and Chinese New Year celebrations would see any standard operating procedures being implemented, Dr Noor Hisham said the status quo would remain.

“We have gone through various festive celebrations last year such as the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations and observed that there was no surge in cases. Hence, we will stick to the same procedures practised during festive celebrations last year,” he said. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK