KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 29 — The Health Ministry said that the Covid-19 situation in Malaysia does not pose an immediate public health threat as the virus will continue to be present among the population just like any other respiratory viruses such as influenza.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad said the overall Covid-19 situation in the country is under control as most of the cases reported mild symptoms and do not require hospital treatment.
“For Epidemic Week ME-51 (December 17 - 23), the admission rate of Covid-19 patients in hospital is at 0.5 per cent and the death rate is 0.08 per cent.
“This means that the rate for these two parameters remain at a low level,” he said in a statement today.
To date, Dzulkefly said no new Covid-19 variants have been detected in Malaysia.
He explained that the current variant that is spreading in the country is still the Omicron variant, with its subvariants XBB.1.16, XBB.1.5, EG.5 and including JN.1.
“The current infectious Omicron subvariant is not known to cause more severe cases,” he added.
Dzulkefly said the public are advised to practise self-assessment, including ensuring good personal hygiene to avoid contracting infectious diseases, including Covid-19, during the season of increased cases.
He said the Health Ministry will continue to monitor the Covid-19 situation and its related variants from time-to-time.
“Vulnerable groups such as the elderly, individuals with chronic diseases, individuals with low immunity are strongly encouraged to wear face masks when in crowded places or when using public transport,” he said.
Dzulkefly called on the public to increase their awareness by wearing gave masks in crowded public areas, community tracing via the test, report, isolate, inform and seek system (TRIIS), monitoring of health facilities, effective risk communication, and digitisation of the health system via the MySejahtera application.
He also urged the public to obtain correct information on Covid-19 cases from official sources.
