MORE than a month has passed since I last wrote about the Covid-19 situation in Penang and so much has happened and changed since that early December until now as we enter 2021.

At the present time, the talk of the town (and WhatsApp forwards) will be how the “1,144 cases” have turned the “whole Penang into a red zone”. True or not so true?

Well, allow me to explain and then you can make your own conclusions.

First, it all started from the first two days of the new year when Penang was rocked with double century figures for two consecutive days: 226 cases on January 1 and 288 cases on January 2.

Coupled with cases on January 3, it tipped all five districts in Penang (both island and the mainland) into the red zone, which by the Health Ministry definition is 41 cases and above.

This inevitably led to the “1,144 cases” bandied round with images of Penang state fully in red.

Yet on closer scrutiny of the infographic on January 3, you will see it is a cumulative 14-day figure from December 21 until January 3.

Three districts will inevitably be red, namely:

DTL – due to 184 cases in George Town on January 2 (majority under Lain-lain Saringan, hence we expect announcement of a new cluster in the coming days).

DBD – due to the ongoing Beringin cluster which has already yielded 969 cases by January 2, mostly in sub-district 12.

SPS – with 99 cases in sub-district 14, majority would have been from Rawa Akasia cluster on January 1.

As for the other two districts, SPU and SPT tipped over the 41-case mark when they had 20 and 13 cases on January 3 respectively, leading to a total then of 48 for SPU and SPT (47). 

And so you have it, how Penang literally became a red state by January 3. Yet, let’s not forget it’s a 14-day cumulative figure, meaning the old cases in SPU and SPT which have discharged and once outside the 14-day period, will reduce the figure and we might see them revert to orange soon, provided there are no future big increase like in DTL, DBD or SPS.

Hence, in reality, like in DTL, DBD and SPS, it is only certain sub-districts which are red, inevitably causing the whole district to be red.

Then there is the accumulated figure for SPU and SPT which can drop once the discharged exceeds the new cases within the 14-day period.

So is the whole of Penang really red? Obviously, no.

But that does not preclude us from continuing to observe SOP of masking and social distancing. Surely that’s how we can break the chain of transmission, which has indeed happened in Penang.

In fact, since my last article on December 1 until yesterday January 5, a total of 10 clusters have been declared as ended – Alma, Rajawali, Permatang, Bayan, Summer, Tembaga, Seri Pasir, Intan, Assumption, Penjara Reman Pulau Pinang.

Our current active clusters are Beringin, Rawa Akasia, Sentosa Residensi, Lis Putih, May Indah, Sg Keluang, Damar Laut and Penjara Seberang Perai.

Some seem like clusters we have not heard before, which is good news as it shows they have not been adding too many cases daily and will eventually reach its natural end.

Only Beringin is the current worrying one and course any new cluster that will emerge in the coming days as we seek to understand their origins.

So, let’s not play the blame game or finger pointing. Let’s do our individual parts and look to maintaining the SOP diligently.

Together as we say, #KitaJagaKita! – January 6, 2021.

* Boo Soon Yew reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.