According to data shared by health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah on Twitter, yesterday’s infectivity rate was 0.99 compared to 1.00 the day before.

It reached a high of 1.21 on May 23, but has been on the decline since May 30.

A total of 13 states recorded an R0 above the national average, with Labuan topping the list at 1.36.

This was followed by Negeri Sembilan (1.18), Sabah (1.16), Melaka (1.10), Selangor (1.06), Kuala Lumpur (1.05) and Johor (1.03).

Next were Putrajaya (1.03), Penang (1.02), Pahang (1.02), Perak (1.02), Sarawak (1.02) and Terengganu (1.00).

The three states that recorded infectivity rates below 1.0 were Kelantan (0.97), Kedah (0.96) and Perlis (0.95).

So far, the lowest R0 recorded since the implementation of the most recent movement control order on Jan 13 was 0.81 on March 3.

The infectivity rate is a measure of how much the virus is spreading, and represents how many people the average infected person would transmit the virus to.

Despite the decline, Noor Hisham said in a separate statement yesterday that Malaysia was currently facing a sharp increase in sporadic Covid-19 cases and deaths, those which are not linked to existing cases or clusters.

“The ministry of health (MoH) would like to call on the community to take this situation seriously, with transmission of Covid-19 in the community including shopping malls, workplaces, and so on.

“People need to understand that anyone can be infected with Covid-19 no matter where they are. As a result, we can see an increase in sporadic cases and deaths,” he said.

He appealed to the public to comply with SOPs and government recommendations to stay at home and go out only when necessary.

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