Written By : Andrew Samuel
Authorities need to urgently scale up measures to combat Covid-19 in states apart from the Klang Valley to prevent a collapse of the healthcare system.
Universiti Putra Malaysia epidemiologist and biostatistician Associate Professor Dr Malina Osman said states like Kedah, Johor, Kelantan, Perak, Sabah and Pahang had to exercise extra care as they were showing a similar infection trend as Selangor — the current epicentre of the pandemic in the country.
She warned if the spike in new infections was not curbed, there was a possibility of the number of daily cases touching 25,000 or 30,000 a day in the coming weeks.
This, she said, was due to the current infectivity rate caused by the Delta variant coupled with the recent easing of restrictions.
“We have to be more cautious. Based on observation, these states are now in a situation which Selangor was in two to three months ago. Aggressive prevention at the community level is inevitable,” she told the New Straits Times.
On Aug 14, Kedah logged 1,796 new cases, Johor had 1,425, Kelantan had 1,370, Perak
registered 1,003, Sabah logged 1,752 and Pahang had 794, a sharp increase compared with July 14.
While Kedah and Johor are under Phase One, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, and Sabah are under Phase Two where dining at restaurants and interstate/interdistrict travel is allowed for the fully vaccinated.
Malina said while the hospitalisation rate might improve in two to four weeks in the Klang Valley, the situation could worsen in other states (especially ones with a low vaccination rate).
“States with low vaccination rates may soon be in almost the same situation (as the Klang Valley today) or may worsen the Covid-19 situation for the whole country.”
Greater Klang Valley Special Task Force Chief Dr Chong Chee Kheong had on Friday said the present bed capacity in hospitals could be sustained for only two weeks if Covid-19 cases did not go down.
Last week, Greater Klang Valley — encompassing Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Putrajaya, and Negri Sembilan — recorded an average of 8,000 to 12,000 cases daily and one to two per cent of the cases required further treatment at a hospital or quarantine at a low-risk treatment centre.
Authorities had to prepare 200 to 300 additional beds daily for Covid-19 patients.
The task force had to date added 6,000 to 8,000 beds since it was set up a month ago.
On Saturday, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said Operation Surge Capacity in the Klang Valley had led to a decline in hospital admissions across age groups (20 to 39, 40 to 59 and 60 to 79).
This, Dr Noor Hisham said, showed the effectiveness of vaccination which has managed to decrease hospitalisation rates and the use of intensive care unit beds.
Malina, however, pointed out that patients continued to struggle with “long Covid” where symptoms continued for more than 12 weeks after an infection, either severe or mild.
“Long Covid is now a tough situation which we have to face as some patients need further monitoring and cannot be discharged.
“Currently, we don’t have many options except to emphasise public cooperation to stay at home, protect themselves and adhere to standard operating procedures to prevent clusters and transmission.
“We have to take precautions even though we have been fully vaccinated.”
Malaysian Public Health Physicians Association president Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar said a major reduction in cases, declines in categories 3, 4 and 5 patients and good homecare could ease the public healthcare burden.
“One important factor is that the number of beds is fixed and not stretchable when it reaches maximum capacity.
“The real number of cases in the community is higher than detected and reported.
“So, the daily numbers will depend on testing strategy, symptomatic cases, vaccine coverage and compliance with SOP by all sectors.
“Vaccination should focus on vulnerable groups, potential new clusters and community transmission, for example, factories, restaurants, schools, and religious events.”
