In a post on Facebook last night, he said the Nikkei Covid-19 Recovery Index highlighted a divide between Asia and the West, with many countries reporting a surge in Omicron infections in a short period of time.

As of Dec 31, Malaysia’s total score in the index was 66.5, while Bahrain sat at the top with a score of 82.0, followed by Chile (76.5) and Taiwan (75.5.).

The index ranks about 120 countries or regions on infection management, vaccine rollouts and social mobility.

A higher ranking indicates a country or region is closer to recovery with its low numbers of confirmed Covid-19 cases, better vaccination rates and less stringent social distancing measures.

Malaysia recorded 2,714 recoveries yesterday, taking the total number of recoveries to 2,714,614 since the pandemic hit the country in February 2020.

Noor Hisham also said Malaysia was ranked sixth in the Global Covid Index (GCI), developed with input from various international bodies, including the World Health Organization (WHO).

Based on the GCI, Malaysia ranked No. 6 with a recovery rating of five and recovery index of 78.74. Singapore ranked No. 1 with a recovery index of 82.88, followed by South Korea (82.71) and Taiwan (80.49), with all sharing the same recovery rating of five.

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