STATISTICS continue to show a positive trend of the pandemic virus infected patients recovery and returning home, yet officials would still prefer to err on the side of caution.
Ninety-five Covid-19 fully recovered patients were discharged and allowed to return home, the second such day where discharged cases exceeded new positive cases natonwide.
Ministry of Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 84 new cases were reported overnight, raising the cumulative cases to 5,389.
“Cumulative cases of those fully recovered from COVID-19 and discharged is 3,197 or 59.32 percent of the total number of cases,” Bernama reported.
The nations’ health czar said the number of Covid-19 infectivity cases stood at 2,013, in which the patients have been isolated and given treatment.
To date, 46 cases are being treated in the intensive care unit, of which 26 require ventilators.
Another virus-related death was recorded, which brought the death toll to 89 cases.
The ministry also identified a new cluster among a group of Malaysians who had returned home from Indonesia via the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on April 16.
Dr Noor Hisham said this cluster comprised 43 students who had returned on April 16 from Temboro, an area that has been declared a red zone in Magetan, Indonesia.
Thirty-four of them have been quarantined in Melaka, and the rest in Kuala Lumpur.
“This shows that the government’s decision to quarantine and screen Malaysians returning from abroad was a correct one, and this is to prevent import cases from infecting Malaysians,” he explained.
In view of these developments, and that many more Malaysians yet to return from abroad, any suggestion to lift the present movement control order in place would have to be studied closely.
On Saturday, Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reminded the public against allowing complacency to set in and adhere to precautions to break the chain of transmission and infection.
In Philippines, confirmed coronavirus cases increased to 6,259 with deaths recording 409 on Sunday.
The Department of Health reported 172 new cases, from 6,087 and 397 deaths the previous day.
Fifty-six 56 patients recovered from the virus infection, bringing the number of recoveries to 572.
The entire Luzon, including Metro Manila, remains under lockdown, after President Rodrigo Duterte extended enhanced community quarantine to April 30 to stem the spread of the pandemic.
In Laos, there has been no new Covid-19 cases reported for the seventh consecutive day, with 19 remaining to be total number of confirmed cases.
In Thailand, no deaths were reported for the second consecutive day, with 32 new cases reported.
This brings to 2,765 number of positive cases with deaths reported to be at 47.
Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) spokesman Thaweesilp Wissanuyothin said 141 more patients had recovered and discharged.
The number of patients discharged from hospital now stands at 1,928 while 790 others continue receiving treatment.
While the situation in Thailand continues to show improvement, Thaweesilp said any decision to lift restrictions would depend on further developments.
The present Emergency Decree will expire on April 30, and shopping malls are preparing to reopen for business.
In Indonesia, 47 infection related deaths were reported over the past 24 hours, bringing to 582 total fatalities in the country.
Government spokesman on Covid-19, Achmad Yurianto said the number of positive cases also rose to 6,575, with 327 new cases reported.
Singapore’s Ministry of Health reported 596 new infections taking the country’s tally to 6,588. Majority of the cases were those with work permits residing in foreign workers dormitories, 25 are Singaporeans or Permanent Residents.
