KJ Says That Daily Cases May Exceed 30,000 By End Of March If Omicron Variant Is Not Curbed!

We may have planned a lot for the future, but nobody knows what fate has in store for us especially during this pandemic. We were supposed to enter the endemic phase last year, but that did not happen and there is no sign of it happening anytime soon. 

With more variants of the deadly Covid-19 virus discovered, the road to endemic also appears to be distant. This is confirmed when Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin revealed that our country may record more than 30,000 Covid-19 cases on a daily basis by end of March if the Omicron variant is not curbed!

It’s not definite, but it is definitely possible.

The measures to control the spread of the variant of the virus is important, or our country may just get to see the day where we surpass the highest daily number we have ever recorded – 24,599 daily cases!

With more Omicron cases detected recently, and the daily reported cases which have seen a slight increase, we might wonder what awaits us as we move forward. The next Covid-19 wave, or the road to recovery following the ramped-up process of the booster shots for the people?

According to BFM News, Khairy said that the possibility is based on the Ministry of Health (MOH)’s projections through the Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Recovered (SEIR) model.

“If the basic reproduction number (R0) of Covid-19 infections increases to 1.2, daily Covid-19 cases will increase to 10,000 per day,” he explained.

He added that if the RO reaches 1.6, then an increase to more than 30,000 daily cases per day is bound to happen. Despite the lack of severity of the Omicron variant as compared to the Delta variant, the public sector is likely to be overwhelmed by the possible spike in cases.

As much as we hope for this pandemic to go away, unfortunately, it seems like we still have a long way to go in the battle with the virus. In the meantime, the best thing that we can do is to keep following the SOPs that have been set by the government.

Also read: “Why not come and meet us” MOH To Meet Anti-Vaxxers Personally To “Educate” Them About Vaccines