Malaysia Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report Weekly Report for the Week Ending 27 September 2020
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Malaysia Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report Weekly report for the week ending 27 September 2020 Malaysia Situation summary As of 27 September 2020, there have been a total of 10 919 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Malaysia. In the past seven days, 700 new cases have been reported, an increase of 130.3% compared to the previous week. In the past seven days, four new deaths have been reported. This brings the total number of COVID- 19 deaths in Malaysia to 134. Of the 700 cases reported in the past seven days, 33 (4.71%) were imported. The Ministry of Health (MOH) has reported that, as of 23 September, the estimated COVID-19 effective reproduction number (Rt) was 1.34. However, the states of Sabah and Kedah report reproduction numbers of 1.37 and 1.15, respectively. Of the newly reported cases in the past seven days, 591 (84.4%) were reported in Sabah.The states with active cases as of 27 September are Sabah (819), Kedah (49), Negeri Sembilan (5), Selangor (5), Penang (4), Sarawak (4), Federal Territory Kuala Lumpur (2), Federal Territory Labuan (1) and Pahang (1). Following the rise in cases among travellers from Sabah, the MOH has instated new COVID-19 measures to control the community transmission from the state. From 27 September to 10 October, screening tests will be made mandatory for all travellers from Sabah at all points of entry. Additionally, all such travellers will be issued Home Surveillance Orders to undergo a mandatory quarantine until a negative result from screenings is made known. Travellers who experience symptoms and have a travel history to Sabah in the past 14 days have been urged to undergo COVID- 19 screening. Travellers screened under this directive are exempt from the COVID-19 test charge. Of the 19 currently active clusters, 13 clusters reported new cases in the past seven days. As of 20 September, a total of 732 school students have tested positive for COVID-19. Of these cases, 108 (14.8%) were detected following school re-openings since 24 June. Upcoming events and priorities The police aim to ramp up compliance monitoring of standard operating procedures under the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO). A snap state election was held in Sabah on 26 September. The need to implement the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) in the affected districts in Sabah (Tawau, Lahad Datu, Kunak, and Semporna) is being continuously reviewed. The MOH is carrying out risk assessments and has stated that the implementation of standard operating procedures is sufficient for the time being. The Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) has urged all institutions of higher learning to postpone the return of students, as well as registration of new students, from red zone areas. As of 25 September, Malaysia has yet to sign a legally binding commitment agreement or submit a non-binding confirmation of intent to participate in the COVAX COVID-19 vaccine access plan. The Malaysian government is currently preparing an agreement with the government of China to get access to COVID-19 vaccines developed in China. Additionally, authorities have signed non-disclosure agreements with several international pharmaceutical companies to negotiate the procurement of approved vaccines. The National Institutes of Biotechnology Malaysia has also signed letters of intent (LOI) with the Russian Federation and Republic of Cuba in order to obtain further information on the COVID-19 vaccines being developed in those nations. The MOH is working to develop a molecular laboratory in Tawau Hospital and increase Sabah state testing capacity. Additionally, the MOH awaits the delivery of GENEXPERT COVID-19 cassettes from WHO for use in Tawau Hospital, Sandakan Hospital and Lahad Datu Hospital. 1 of 3 1 Malaysia Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report Weekly report for the week ending 27 September 2020 National transmission assessment At the national level, Malaysia remains in Stage 2, localized community transmission. The number of cases has been increasing (700 cases this week compared to 304 cases the previous week), and in the past three days, there has been some geographical spread across the country, largely due to the movement of people in and out of Sabah. However, Sabah still recorded the highest number of cases in the past three days (83.1% of total cases in the past three days). The majority of cases were locally transmitted, with only about 5% imported cases in the past week. Almost 14% of total reported cases in the past week are not linked to any known clusters at the time of reporting. The past week has also seen four COVID-19 deaths reported. However, contact tracing, testing and treatment capacities are still adequate at this point. As a response to the high number of cases detected in Sabah and the increase in population movement, screening tests and mandatory home quarantine are now being made mandatory for all travellers from Sabah at all points of entry. Epi Update Tests Cases Deaths ICU COVID-19 700 Data reported for 65 704 4 1.4% New cases in the epi week ending Tests in the Deaths in the ICU utilization rate past 7 days 27 September past 7 days past 7 days (-40.0%) 2020 (-9.4%) (+130.3%) (-) (% difference compared to the previous 7 days) 1 510 390 10 919 134 431 Cumulative tests Cumulative cases Cumulative ICU beds for COVID-19 0.72% deaths patients Positivity rate 1.2% Case fatality rate Imported 33 (4.7%) 97 (13.9%) 19 2 cases and Imported cases in the Cases in the past 7 Active clusters Active clusters with clusters past 7 days days with no link more than three generations 2 of 3 2 Malaysia Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report Weekly report for the week ending 27 September 2020 Epidemiology Fig 1. Daily reported COVID-19 cases and Movement Control Order measures, Malaysia, as of 27 September 2020 Pre-MCO Movement Control Conditional MCO Recovery MCO Order Mortality In the past seven days, four new deaths were reported in Malaysia: o 23 September, Sabah: Case #10 495 was a 48-year-old Indonesian woman with a history of diabetes and hypertension. She developed symptoms of lethargy, vomiting, cough and fever on 14 September. She was brought to Tawau Hospital on 18 September in a semi-conscious state. Her condition deteriorated. She was transferred to the ICU on 19 September and was pronounced deceased on the same day. Post-mortem testing on 22 September confirmed she had been positive for COVID-19. o 23 September, Sabah: Case #10 493 was a 54-year-old Malaysian man. He was treated for symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath on 18 September in Semporna Hospital. His condition deteriorated. On 20 September, he was referred to Tawau Hospital where he was subsequently admitted to the ICU. The patient was pronounced deceased on 22 September, and the COVID-19 test result came back positive on the same day. o 23 September, Kedah: Case #9224 was a 72-year-old Malaysian man with a history of stroke. He was identified as a close contact of Case #9124 (death #127), a confirmed case from the Tawar cluster. He was asymptomatic and found to be positive for COVID-19 on 19 August. The patient was admitted into Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital, Alor Setar and was later transferred to the ICU. He was pronounced deceased on 23 September 2020. o 27 September, Sabah: Case #104 91 was an 81-year-old Malaysian woman. She displayed symptoms of fever and cough on 14 September and was brought to Semporna Hospital on 17 September. Her COVID-19 screening test result was found to be positive on 22 3 of 3 3 Malaysia Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report Weekly report for the week ending 27 September 2020 September. She was transferred to Tawau Hospital on 26 September. Subsequently, her condition deteriorated. She was moved to the ICU on the same day before passing away. Clusters Of the 118 clusters identified in Malaysia, 19 are currently active. Seven new clusters were identified in the last week. These were: o Kuarters cluster: First reported on 21 September in Tongod, Sandakan, Sabah. The cluster was identified following the detection of a health-care worker in the Tongod district who tested positive for COVID-19 on an RTK-Antigen test on 4 September. Subsequent RT-PCR tests have since found the worker to be negative. Screening in Tongod had started on 6 September and as of 26 September involved 330 local community and health-care workers in the Tongod Health Clinic. Five cases have been detected. o Bangau-Bangau cluster: First reported on 22 September in Semporna, Sabah. The index case was a patient detected upon admission screening at Semporna Hospital. As of 26 September, 351 individuals have been screened, and of them, 179 confirmed cases have been linked to this cluster. o Udin cluster: First identified in Tawau, Sabah on 23 September 2020. The index case, #9894, is a 72-year-old Malaysian woman. She was detected through the routine screening of older adults at Merotai Health Clinic, Tawau, on 12 September 2020. A total of 138 individuals have been screened, and three cases have been confirmed in this cluster. o Orkim cluster: First reported in Pasir Gudang Port, Johor on 25 September. The cluster involves the crew of a ship anchored at port. The first case in the cluster, #10 572, is an Indonesian ship crew member. He signed on in Singapore on 10 September and developed fever, cough, shortness of breath, diarrhoea and vomiting from 13 September.