DR Noor Hisham Abdullah has cleared the air on doubts raised over the accuracy of the daily Covid-19 statistics presented by the Health Ministry. 

In a statement today, the director-general of health said the daily data collated is subjected to his final approval.

He said all countries had to ensure the Covid-19 statistics and clinical data presented are authentic and accurate. 

“Therefore the data management system used has to be transparent and with integrity,” he added. 

He was responding to Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who recently aired his doubts over the validity of the daily Covid-19 case reports released by the ministry. 

Zahid said he wondered about the truth and validity of the figures, and questioned the source of the data. 

“The daily Covid-19 cases are currently climbing like a rocket through space,” he said in a Facebook post. 

“Is the data true and who verifies them? True or false? Not because of anything, but the public is concerned seeing the daily figures rising suddenly.

Detailing the process, Noor Hisham said the test results are collected from health clinics as well as government and private hospitals through the Public Health Laboratory Information System. 

The system, he said is closely monitored by the ministry via the district and state health departments, as well as the National Public Health Laboratory – to ensure the next course of action. 

“Data from all states have to be received by the Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) at the latest by 12pm. The data will then be analysed and verified before it is registered,” he said. 

After the data is checked by the officers at the CPRC, it will then be employed for epidemiological analysis to determine the trend of infection, clusters, hospital and lab capacity as well as containment measures that are to be taken. 

“All these verified information will then be edited for the preparation of the daily press release, which has to obtain the final approval of the director-general of health,” he said. 

Noor Hisham said the processes are undertaken by field officers, the district and state health offices as well as the CPRC. 

“All health personnel involved in the data management right from the district level up to the national level are governed by the relevant law and are obligated to uphold the confidentiality of Covid-19 patients’ data,” he said.

“Therefore, there are no doubts on the Covid-19 data management and daily data shared by the MoH to the public,” he added. 

Malaysia has seen an uptrend in active cases since April 7, while daily cases remained in four digits. 

Today, the country reported 2,341 fresh cases in the past 24 hours, while recoveries stood at 1,592. – April 20, 2021.