{"id":3575,"date":"2020-04-25T06:55:43","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T22:55:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=3575"},"modified":"2020-04-25T06:55:43","modified_gmt":"2020-04-24T22:55:43","slug":"covid-19-infectivity-rate-now-less-than-one-health-d-g","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=3575","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19: Infectivity rate now less than one – Health D-G"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PUTRAJAYA, April 24 – COVID-19 infectivity rate in the community is now less than one, says\u00a0Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.<\/p>\n

He said the Health Ministry’s modelling on the disease’s infectivity is quantified by a figure called ‘RO’, which is pronounced ‘R-Naught’.<\/p>\n

“The RO before the Movement Control Order (MCO) was\u00a0about 3.55, which means one individual will infect 3.55 people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“But now after April 14, we have brought down the RO to less than one,” he said at the daily media conference on COVID-19, here today.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said that\u00a0the total number of Covid-19 active infectivity cases was 1,932, adding that the patients were being\u00a0continuously monitored and only discharged once they tested negative.<\/p>\n

He\u00a0said it was\u00a0also important for the people to remain at home\u00a0to help further reduce the infectivity rate in the country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Today the (number of new) cases has been reduced to two digits, but we hope in a week or two, we will able to reduce it further. By doing so, we can actually control the COVID-19 infection in our hospitals and community,” he said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said the Health Ministry was now testing\u00a013,614 samples a day, up from the\u00a0initial 11,500, and trying to push it up to\u00a016,385 per day through\u00a043 laboratories.<\/p>\n

He added that two centres, namely the\u00a0Institute for Medical Research (IMR) and Public Health Laboratory\u00a0in Kota Kinabalu will be getting automated machines from the Beijing Genomics Institute,\u00a0which will help increase testing capacity by another 6,000 tests per day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said Malaysia had been able to meet some of the criteria outlined earlier to determine if the MCO\u00a0could be lifted, however, he maintained that the best indicator was that if there were no new COVID-19 cases reported.<\/p>\n

According to him, among the criteria currently being met were movement control within the country, security control at the borders,\u00a0and the healthcare system\u2019s ability to detect, test and treat\u00a0COVID-19 patients.<\/p>\n

“Currently, we are seeing bed usage (for COVID-19 patients) of less than 30 per cent, (the numbers in) ICU (intensive care unit) are decreasing as well, while\u00a0efforts to protect high-risk groups have been, and are continuously being implemented,” he said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham stressed that\u00a0the \u2018new normal\u2019 practices\u00a0of\u00a0frequent\u00a0hand washing and social distancing\u00a0should be continued\u00a0for at least the next six to twelve months.<\/p>\n

“We do not\u00a0have the vaccine yet (to treat\u00a0COVID-19), the only vaccine we have today is social distancing,” he added.<\/p>\n

The Health Ministry had previously outlined six criteria for ending the MCO, namely security control, movement control, the capability of the country\u2019s healthcare system, the ability to protect the high-risk group, practising\u00a0the new normal,\u00a0and implementing preventive measures in the community.<\/p>\n

– BERNAMA<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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