MALAYSIANS should expect the Ministry of Health to report 3,000-5,000 fresh Covid-19 infections a day for the foreseeable future, health experts have said.

They also expressed caution about a potential Omicron wave of cases, adding that it was important to uphold continuous compliance to standard operating procedures (SOP) and booster shots.

Universiti Putra Malaysia medical epidemiologist Associate Prof Malina Osman said the situation in was much better now as active cases were on the downtrend.

“However, with the presence of Omicron, it is expected the cases may increase again,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

She said Malaysia was not yet in the endemic phase due to the Omicron threat.

“We have to wait for two to four weeks as we are not sure of the impact of Omicron on the country. Hopefully the situation will be under control, and potential new waves can be avoided,” she said.

“To do so, we have to continue the SOP and take booster doses as advised,” she added.

Former Pahang health director Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar said there were no “safe numbers” when it came to an ideal new case count.

“However, we have to accept that the number will be fluctuating between 3,000 and 5,000 for quite some time,” he said, adding that Covid-19 is here to stay.

“As long as there is no increase in big clusters and deaths, the current situation is manageable,” he said.

“The term endemic or pandemic is not really important right now. The action plan and monitoring or surveillance indicators are important,” he said.

He also said reasonable measures that are not too strict must be implemented.

He added that targeted risk analysis must be carried out with the help of big data as the country has experience in managing the pandemic.

Zainal also called for continuous compliance with the SOP and people to take booster shots.

Daily cases have been trending in the 3,000-6,000 range over the last one month.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had initially projected the nation to enter the endemic phase in October, only to scrap that prediction altogether in November.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah also recently sounded the alarm that a tsunami of cases could happen due to ease at which the Omicron and Delta variants spread. – January 3, 2022.