DELAYS in reporting Covid-19 cases, some dating back to 2020, were the reason for the high number of daily cases seen in the last two days and today, said the Health Ministry.

“The Health Ministry confirms that this situation is caused by late reporting of cases to the ministry’s national Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC), including cases that were detected in 2020,” the ministry said in a statement.

New cases totalled 5,725 on Friday, 5,728 yesterday and 5,298 today.

Active cases of infection now total 48,150

The ministry said the spike is the result of targeted workplace, close contact and high risk group screenings that were widely carried out in several states.

The ministry said the district health offices have followed up on the cases that were reported late.

“They have arranged for the isolation and treatment of positive cases, contact tracing and confirmation of active cases.”

It said the online reporting system employed by private healthcare facilities was a reason for the delay in the reporting of cases.

The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) earlier today said the ministry’s system of collecting data on Covid-19 test results needed to be improved as private healthcare facilities had two reporting systems that caused inefficiencies.

MMA also said private laboratories, which are not healthcare facilities, are conducting Covid-19 tests when they are not allowed to but the ministry is “closing one eye”.  These private labs also have no protocol for reporting cases to the ministry, resulting in delayed reports.

The MySejahtera app, which enables the user to report their status after completing a Covid-19 test, is another source of data.– January 31, 2021.