DESPITE the government’s focus on the Covid-19 pandemic, the Health Ministry is well prepared to handle dengue cases, said Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

The director-general of health told The Malaysian Insight there was a drop in the number of dengue cases this year.

Statistics from the ministry’s Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre showed 78,303 cases reported between last December 29 and October 3.

This was a 23.8% drop from the 102,734 cases in the same period last year.

In the same period, Selangor reported the highest number of cases with 39,359 while Johor was next at 9,485. There were only six reported cases in Labuan – the lowest in the country.

The number of fatalities stands at 127 in the period under review, compared with 149 in the same period last year.

“Even during this Covid-19 pandemic, our public health activity on dengue continues and we are in much better control (this year) than last year,” Noor Hisham told The Malaysian Insight.

The ministry is prepared and has allocated the necessary resources for treatment, he said.

Malaysia has seen a fluctuation in the number of dengue cases over the years.

Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia president Dr Kuljit Singh told The Malaysian Insight dengue is not something out of the ordinary as it has been happening for years.

“As far as dengue is concerned, it is an ongoing issue. Both public and private hospitals are quite well versed with the illness,” he said.

“It doesn’t change the treatment and preparation is not an issue.”

The country is currently gripped by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has so far infected 14,368 Malaysians and killed 146.

Several areas, identified as red zones because of the high number of infections, are also under partial lockdown as authorities continue to battle the pandemic. – October 9, 2020.