The national Covid-19 positive rate increased to 8.92% in the week of July 4-10, despite an increase of more than 70,000 tests from the previous week (June 27-July 3).
Infectious disease expert Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman also highlights the severe impact of the epidemic on non-Covid patients, like delays in cancer surgery and heart disease treatment.
The World Bank’s internal estimate shows that “an open and comprehensive testing policy is positively associated both with containment and growth outcomes”.
Covid-19 cases dipped only 6.5% to an average 5,559 daily infections the week of June 13-19 from the previous week, while testing declined 10.9% to an average 80,165 people tested a day.
A private hospital group says the price controls for Covid-19 tests only apply to private lab charges and that sampling, PPE, and consultation fees are excluded.
Based on the experience of countries worldwide, positive rates as low as 1-3% are a better indication of the pandemic being under control; Malaysia’s current positive rate is about 7%.
Selangor reported the highest positive rate (10%) in Epid Week 22 (May 30-June 5); only Putrajaya, Pahang, Sabah, and Perlis recorded positive rates below 5% that week.