The fact that this was the second time in a week that the daily death toll record had been broken just adds to the grim reality faced by the frontliners in their fight against Covid-19. Just three days earlier, on May 12, some 39 people lost their lives.
The weekly death toll of 209 has rightly caused alarm, given that it was nearly half of the total death toll reported last year, which stood at 471 as of Dec 31. As of yesterday, the death toll now stands at 1,866.
The past week was also marked by 29,386 new cases against 23,606 recoveries. Contributing to the high number of cases were the over 4,000 cases a day for four consecutive days since May 12.
Since May 9, a total of 101 new Covid-19 clusters had also been detected.
Covid-19 making the headlines
FMT now takes a brief look at four major headline news on Covid-19 over the past week.
MCO…again
On May 12, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced a nationwide movement control order (MCO), the third since the start of the pandemic, to address the surge in cases that has pushed both public and private health facilities to their limits.
Full travel restrictions were put in place again with all interstate and inter-district travel requiring police permission. However, all economic sectors were allowed to operate, subject to strict Covid-19 SOPs.
The MCO also saw muted Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations as people were barred from holding open houses, visiting their loved ones or going to the cemetery, as is the tradition.
Extended quarantine for India returnees
Amid the worsening Covid-19 situation in India, which has recorded over 24.3 million cases and more than 260,000 deaths to date, Putrajaya extended the quarantine period for Malaysians returning from the country.
The quarantine period was extended from 14 days to 21 days. The government has also barred foreign crew members of ships from India from disembarking in Malaysia.
Malaysian crew are allowed to disembark, subject to quarantine.
Disarray at WTC vaccination centre
Poor organisation, coordination and communication marred the vaccination process at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur over the weekend, where 16,200 people were scheduled to receive the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.
Many who turned up were unclear whether they were supposed to queue up to enter the only door that was open or walk straight onwards to the front.
The science, technology, and innovation ministry’s Covid-19 immunisation task force later clarified that the chaos at the vaccination centre was also due to early arrivals, and a large number of people who had turned up without appointment and were simply trying their luck.
No more face masks for the vaccinated
On May 13, the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear face masks outdoors and also need not observe physical distancing in most places. It was seen as an important milestone in the fight against Covid-19.
In response, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that Malaysia will still maintain the face mask and physical distancing rules for all those who have received their double dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, despite the move by the CDC.
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