THE admission of Covid-19 patients to health facilities per 100,000 population dropped 8.6% in the third epidemiological week 2023 (ME3/2023) from January 15 to 21 compared with the previous week, said Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said admissions of Categories 1 to 5 patients to public hospitals per 100,000 population last week also declined by 28.6% from ME2/2023.

“The utilisation rate of non-critical and ICU (intensive care unit) beds decreased by 2% each in ME3/2023 compared with the previous week,” he said in a statement today.

Noor Hisham said there has been a decline in the number of positive cases monitored by Covid-19 Assessment Centres nationwide.

According to him, Malaysia’s cumulative Covid-19 infections from January 25, 2020, to January 21, 2023, stood at 5,034,521, while cumulative recoveries stood at 4,987,642.

The cumulative figure for Covid-19 fatalities was 36,932 cases, and the total clusters were 7,169 with five active clusters, he added.

Noor Hisham said the total number of recovered cases in ME3/2023 dropped by 27.6% (3,288 cases to 2,379 cases), while the number of new infections decreased by 17.3% (2,525 cases to 2,088 cases) from the previous week.

The number of local cases dropped by 17.1% (2,497 cases to 2,071 cases), while imported cases were down by 39.3% from 28 cases to 17 cases. 

As for Covid-19-related fatalities, Noor Hisham said the figure decreased by 29.4% (34 cases to 24 cases) and the average daily active cases for ME3/2023 recorded a 7.9% drop from 10,901 cases to 10,042 cases compared with the previous week. 

He said the surveillance at sentinel locations nationwide up till ME3/2023 found 17 influenza-like illness samples to be positive, with Severe Acute Respiratory Infection samples testing positive for Covid-19 at 5.9%. – Bernama, January 23, 2023.