HEALTH experts believe that the Covid-19 infections in Selangor are unlikely to abate anytime soon.

The state topped the daily cases tally for 10 days in a row until Friday when its neighbour Kuala Lumpur took over. However, this means the infection rate remains high in the Klang Valley.

Experts said Selangor’s bustling economic activities have also sprouted many clusters of infection.

Epidemiologist Dr Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud said around 60 of the 215 active clusters nationwide are linked to Selangor.

“Selangor has the highest population of all states, with 6.8 million people. It has high economic activity and accounts for 25% of the country’s gross domestic product,” he said.

“The state also has a large migrant worker population and has close proximity and close economic links to Kuala Lumpur, which is also densely populated and also has many clusters and cases.”

As a result, many clusters linked to workplaces have emerged, reflecting the hive of economic activities in the state.

“In October, I noted that there were already many unlinked cases in Selangor, which means that the disease is well entrenched in the community and will be difficult to manage as we cannot trace and isolate the sources of infection,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

This, he said, seeded further infections and clusters.

Therefore, Awang Bulgiba said it is unlikely for the level of Covid-19 infections in Selangor to recede anytime soon.

“This is proving very difficult to manage and I think the authorities will need to consider mitigation rather than containment strategies if this situation continues.”

Concurring with him, Malaysian Public Health Physicians’ Association president Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar said the spike in infections is attributable to movement and activities related to work, especially in the construction sector and factories.

Cases are emerging from new clusters as well as older ones, said Zainal.

The deplorable condition of foreign workers’ settlements is another cause, he said.

As such, Zainal said the number of new cases is expected to rise with more active screening activities, especially for foreign workers and close contacts of positive cases.

‘Poor compliance’

Meanwhile, Universiti Putra Malaysia medical epidemiologist Assoc Prof Dr Malina Osman said the spike in cases is partly due to aggressive screening activities and contact tracing.

Poor compliance to standard operating procedure (SOP) by certain groups also led to the emergence of new clusters, she said.

“It depends on cooperation from the public, whether they are able to maintain their commitment to complying to the advice (on) Covid-19 prevention, or ignore the recommended measures,” she said when asked if the infections were expected to abate.

“If we have full commitment to complying with the SOP, cases will come down. Otherwise, we will see the number of cases plateauing or increasing,” she added.

Selangor reported 392 cases on Sunday. Cumulatively, it registered 29,272 cases.

Director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said last week the ministry is concerned over the spread of the coronavirus infections within communities in Selangor as the state continues to top the daily Covid-19 tally.

He added the ministry projected for cases to rise given the high population density in the state and the movement of residents. – December 28, 2020.