MALAYSIA has balanced the number of Covid-19 cases with those under treatment by achieving a higher recovery rate in the third wave, Health Minister Adham Baba said.

He said this was a result of public health measures taken through the implementation of the conditional movement-control order (CMCO) and enhanced MCO. 

“There are some who want CMCO to end earlier, but we (government) need to look at the risk assessment, trends or infectivity rate in the community before making the right decision.

“Although we (the people) can comply with the standard operating procedure (SOP), it must be noted that so far there is still no specific medication to treat Covid-19.

“What we have for now is reasonable treatment for a higher recovery rate,” he said when coming on as a guest on Radio Televisyen Malaysia’s Selamat Pagi Malaysia talk show today. 

Adham said as of yesterday, the recovery and discharge rate stood at 73.4% out of the 48,520 case tally, while there were 12,601 active cases. 

He said CMCO and EMCO have been the best way to prevent the spread of the virus among the community and flatten the infection curve. 

“Movement restrictions between districts and states help prevent green areas from turning into orange and red zones, and if this cannot be controlled then EMCO will have to be implemented,” he said.

On the Covid-19 vaccine, Adham said the Health Ministry (MOH) will first require about third phase clinical trials data to determine its effectiveness, safety and quality. 

“Although Pfizer Inc and BioNtech SE are targeting a 90% effective rate, while Moderna says its vaccine is 94% effective, we (MOH) still need to consult the vaccine developers. 

“Besides that, the MOH also needs to ensure that the vaccine does not have side effects. We (MOH) want the vaccine to be able to protect or control the infection as well as protect ourselves from the next infection,” he said. – Bernama, November 17, 2020.