ADMISSIONS of Covid-19 patients to health facilities per 100,000 population increased by 6.3% in the fourth epidemiological week 2023 (ME 4/2023), from January 22-28, from the previous week.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said admissions of categories one and two patients to public hospitals per 100,000 population rose by 20% from ME 3/2023 while no changes were reported for categories three, four and five.

“The utilisation rates of non-critical and ICU beds also decreased by 1% in ME 4/2023,” he said in a statement today.

He said there was a dropped in positive cases monitored by Covid-19 assessment centres nationwide, but the number of cases referred by the centres to hospitals increased by 84.6%.

Malaysia’s cumulative Covid-19 infections from January 25, 2020 to ME 4/2023 stood at 5,035,871 while cumulative recoveries were 4,989,819 cases.

Noor Hisham said the cumulative number of Covid-19 fatalities was 36,940 and the total number of clusters was 7,170, with five active ones.

The number of recoveries in ME 4/2023 dropped by 35.3% (from 2,088 to 1,350 cases), new infections came down by 8.5% (from 2,379 to 2,177 cases) while Covid-19 fatalities also declined by 66.7% (from 24 to eight cases).

The infectivity rate in ME4/2023 was 0.82.

Meanwhile, the surveillance at sentinel locations nationwide found 19 samples of influenza-like illness to be Covid-19 positive while no samples of severe acute respiratory infection tested positive for the disease.

Noor Hisham said the Health Ministry will continue to monitor the development of Covid-19 infections in the country and abroad through information obtained from the World Health Organization and the authorities of regional countries, in addition to ensuring that appropriate prevention and control measures are implemented continuously. – Bernama, February 1, 2023.