Still, this came as the overall Covid-19 situation continued to improve with recoveries outpacing new cases every day for the past week.
Between Sept 26 and yesterday, there were a total of 83,368 new infections and 100 new clusters. However, more than 98% of the new infections were Category 1 and 2 cases, with the rest in Category 3, 4 and 5.
In total, 117,573 people recovered from the virus.
The death toll, however, was still worrying. Up until noon on Friday, a total of 433 people had lost their lives to the virus.
As of Friday, there were 160,413 active cases with 82.7% undergoing home quarantine. A further 18,216 are being treated in Covid-19 integrated quarantine and treatment centres while 8,655 are in hospital, including 900 who are receiving intensive care.
These are the major headline stories about Covid-19 over the week.
Huge jump in Covid-19 cases involving adolescents
On Sept 30, health minister Khairy Jamaluddin revealed a huge rise in the number of Covid-19 cases involving adolescents under the age of 18, with over 400,000 cases reported this year compared to only 12,000 last year.
Of the total, 252,569 cases involved schoolchildren and 42,831 cases were preschool children. A total of 62 Covid deaths were recorded among adolescents.
All states out of recovery Phase 1
On Oct 1, Kedah moved from recovery Phase 1 to Phase 2. With this all states in the country have moved out of Phase 1. On the same day, the Klang Valley and Melaka entered recovery Phase 3, in which more restrictions are eased. The area is home to over seven million people.
There was slight confusion when the National Security Council said everyone could dine-in under Phase 3 regardless of their vaccination status. Hours later, the health ministry said only fully vaccinated people could do so in all recovery phases.
Backlog sees September becoming ‘deadliest month’
A backlog of fatalities from previous months saw Malaysia record 9,671 Covid-19 deaths in September. This made it the deadliest month since the start of the pandemic. The jump in deaths pushed Malaysia’s death toll to among the highest per capita in Asia.
Malaysia eyeing ‘breakthrough’ Covid drug
Health minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced that Malaysia is negotiating to procure an experimental Covid-19 antiviral pill developed by US-based Merck & Co, which can halve the chance of deaths or hospitalisation. The pill, known as Molnupiravir, has been hailed as a “potential breakthrough” in the battle against the virus.
Teens can be accompanied for jabs from Oct 3
The government will allow one parent or guardian to accompany teenagers under their care for the whole vaccination process. This came following reports that a health worker inoculated a 12-year-old boy with an empty syringe instead of his Covid-19 vaccine. The health worker has been relieved of her duties.
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