MALAYSIA is ranked 13th in the latest Nikkei Covid-19 Recovery Index after almost two years of battling the Covid-19 epidemic, director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said.

In a post on Facebook tonight, he said the Nikkei Covid-19 Recovery Index highlights a divide between Asia and the West, with many countries seeing a surge in infections due to the Omicron variant in a short period of time.

Based on the index as of December 31, 2021, Malaysia is ranked 13th with a score of 66.5 while Bahrain sits at the top with a score of 82.0. Chile is in the second spot at 76.5, followed by Taiwan at 75.5.

According to the website, the Nikkei Covid-19 Recovery Index ranks about 120 countries or regions on infection management, vaccine rollouts and social mobility.

A higher ranking indicates a country or region is closer to recovery with its low numbers of confirmed Covid-19 cases, better vaccination rates and less stringent physical distancing measures. The data sources include Our World in Data, Google Covid-19 Community Mobility Reports, Oxford Covid-19 Government Response Tracker Cirium and Nikkei Asia research.

Malaysia recorded 2,714 recoveries today, taking the total number of recovery cases to 2,714,614 since the epidemic hit the country in February 2020. 

Noor Hisham also said Malaysia is now ranked sixth in the Global Covid Index (GCI), which was developed with input from various international bodies, including the World Health Organization.

Based on the GCI, Malaysia has a recovery rating of five and recovery index of 78.74. Singapore is ranked number one with recovery index of 82.88, followed by South Korea (82.71) and Taiwan (80.49) with all sharing the same recovery rating of five. – Bernama, January 9, 2022.