MALAYSIA cannot claim that the Covid-19 epidemic has ended until daily infections have dropped to below 1,000, Lim Kit Siang said today.

The DAP leader urged Health Ministry Khairy Jamaludin not to jump the gun and declare that Covid-19 had become endemic while new coronavirus cases and deaths are still high.

“How can we claim that the Covid-19 (epidemic) has ended when we are among the world’s top 10 countries for daily Covid-19 cases and daily Covid-19 deaths?” said the Iskandar Puteri MP.

“It is premature for the new Health Minister Khairy Jamaludin to talk about Covid-19 becoming endemic in Malaysia at the end of October when Covid-19 death rates are still high despite a high vaccination rate.”

Lim said Malaysians must learn to live with Covid-19 so that social and economic activities may resume to pre-pandemic levels.

He added that while Covid-19 vaccines may help to prevent the severity of symptoms, they alone cannot reduce hospitalisations and deaths to zero with Delta and other virus variants in circulation.

“Vaccines provide great but not perfect protection,” he said.

Malaysia yesterday reported 21,176 new infections, taking the number of active cases to 242,161.

There were 341 deaths, bringing the death toll to nearly 20,000.

There was also a hike in the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care, with 1,310 cases requiring critical care and 773 in need of respiratory assistance.

On September 1, Khairy said Malaysia expected to enter the endemic phase of Covid next month.

The government plans to vaccinate at least 80% of the adult population by then. So far, 72%, or 16.8 million, of the adult population are fully inoculated.

The Klang Valley has achieved a 100% vaccination rate for the adult population in the Klang Valley has been fully vaccinated, followed by Labuan with 95.9% or 65,669 of its adult population, followed by Sarawak at 88.1% or 1.79 million.

Sabah remains the only state with a vaccination rate of below 50%, with only 48.6% or 1.34 million of its adult residents fully inoculated. – September 11, 2021.