KUALA LUMPUR, August 4 — Malaysia yesterday recorded the sixth highest number of daily new Covid-19 cases per capita in the world, after Fiji, Cuba, Botswana, Georgia, and Cyprus.
According to global data tracker Our World In Data, Malaysia reported on August 3 about 526.21 new coronavirus infections per million people on a seven-day rolling average. Asean neighbours, in comparison, reported far lower new cases per capita, such as Thailand at second-highest in the region (256.56 cases per million people) and Indonesia (134.10).
In terms of absolute new Covid-19 cases, Malaysia reported the 12th highest globally yesterday at about 17,031 new infections based on a seven-day rolling average, behind Thailand (17,908) and Indonesia (36,681).
The United States reported the world’s highest number of new Covid-19 cases yesterday with about 90,576 cases on a seven-day rolling average, amid the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.
Malaysia reported the world’s 17th highest number of new Covid-19 deaths on a per capita basis yesterday at 5.25 fatalities per million population on a seven-day rolling average, behind Indonesia (6.30) and Myanmar (6.64).
Despite the breakneck speed of Malaysia’s vaccination programme that has exceeded the peak rate of other countries, including the US and the UK, on a per capita basis, Malaysia continues to record daily high Covid-19 infections and fatalities.
Today, the Ministry of Health (MOH) reported a new 24-hour high of 19,819 cases, pushing the cumulative infections in the country to 1.18 million. On August 2, MOH reported a record-high daily death toll of 219 fatalities. A total of 9,598 people have died from Covid-19 in Malaysia as of August 3, according to official figures.
Senior consultant paediatrician Dr Amar-Singh HSS warned the government today about potentially worse outbreaks in states like Sabah, Kedah, Perak, Johor, and Penang, compared to the Klang Valley’s ongoing epidemic, due to low vaccination coverage and limited health care capacity.
He noted that these states have fully vaccinated just less than 20 per cent of their populations.
As of yesterday, about 45 per cent of Malaysia’s total population has been vaccinated with at least one dose, including about 23 per cent fully vaccinated.
In terms of the adult population, about 63 per cent have received their first dose, including 32 per cent double vaccinated.
