Twice, on July 1 and July 2, the number of cases threatened to breach the 7,000 mark after 6,988 and 6,982 cases were reported respectively. Selangor continued to register the highest number of infections.
The number of those warded in intensive care hovered at around 900 on the average with the highest recorded on July 1 with 917.
To compound matters, on Monday, the country’s Covid-19 infectivity rate, or R0 (pronounced R-nought), climbed back up to 1.0. Last night, it stood at 1.07.
And while two federal ministers are at odds as to whether the manufacturing sector contributed to the pandemic, a total of 86 clusters were detected in the past seven days.
Another aspect of the pandemic’s impact has been on mental health, with more suicide cases being reported.
On Tuesday, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said there was an average of four suicide cases every day for the first three months of the year, with 336 cases reported to police.
The number for the three months was more than half of what was reported throughout 2020.
The week before, Noor Hisham said 122,328 people called the health ministry’s mental health and psychological support services helpline in the past six months, mostly due to social issues related to Covid-19.
FMT takes a brief look at the major headline news on Covid-19 over the past week.
Brought-in-dead increases 7 fold
On Friday, Noor Hisham said 246 brought-in-dead (BID) cases were reported last month. In April it was 35.
Of the 4,856 deaths reported this year, 670 were BID cases, with victims aged 50 to 70.
He said the majority of such cases were victims aged between 50 and 70.
No vax-mix for now
There will be no mixing of Covid-19 vaccines in Malaysia for now, despite early global data on heterologous vaccinations.
Covid-19 immunisation minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the data was still inconclusive for the government to give the green light for mixing vaccines.
5 states to move into Phase 2 of recovery plan from Monday
Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Perak and Perlis will move into Phase Two of the national recovery plan from Monday following their success in meeting the necessary benchmarks in bringing down the number of Covid-19 cases.
Can’t travel around Europe on AZ yet
Malaysians who received the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine may not be able to travel freely within Europe because the European Union only recognises vaccine products approved by the European Medicines Agency.
Khairy Jamaluddin has since said he will seek further explanation. AstraZeneca vaccines are produced under licence at 25 sites around the world, with four European sites approved by the EMA.
Flags up
The white flag, or #BenderaPutih, campaign which calls on people needing assistance to wave a white cloth outside their home to signal for help, gained traction with many, from NGOs to businesses coming forward to help those in need.
The campaign was launched after a rise in suicide cases among people struggling to get by.
Parts of Selangor go under EMCO
Most areas of Selangor will be under the enhanced movement control order (EMCO) till July 16, following the surge in Covid-19 cases. All districts in Selangor except Sabak Bernam will be affected.
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