The Ministry of Health predicts that the number of Covid-19 cases could hit 8,000 daily in the third week of March if the rate of infection does not go down.
In a Twitter post, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah uploaded a graph which shows the projection of the number of cases from 4 January to 31 May.
The rate of infection is measured using the R0 (pronounced R-naught) value which indicates how fast an infection can spread. For example, an R0 value of 1.5 means that one infected person is able to spread the virus to 1.5 other people.
Seeing that the R0 value in the country is around 1.1 and 1.2, the MOH predicts that the number of daily cases could reach 8,000 either in the third week of March or in the last week of May.
Just yesterday (7 January), Malaysia recorded an all-time high in Covid-19 cases with a total of 3,027 new infections.
Johor recorded the highest number of new cases among all the states with 1,103 new infections, while Selangor recorded 706, Kuala Lumpur (316), Sabah (493) and Penang (111).
As the number of cases is expected to rise even further, the government is considering implementing the Targeted Movement Control Order in certain parts of the country to break the chain of infection that is evidently getting out of control in most of the states.
The healthcare system is also said to be pressured and at a breaking point with the growing numbers of patients that are being admitted every day and many individuals who have tested positive for Covid-19 have been ordered to quarantine at home for the time being.
We hope that the government will look into implementing new strategies to deal with the alarming rise in cases every day, but in the meantime, we can all do our part by staying at home as long as possible.
Also read: Malaysian Healthcare System “At A Breaking Point”, Targeted MCO Might Be Needed
