KUALA LUMPUR: The Covid-19 situation in the country does not look like it is getting any better despite the coronavirus infectivity rate (r-value) dropping slightly by 0.1 per cent between April 25 and May 1, referred to as epidemiological week 17 (Wk 17).
This follows a total of 21,342 cases which were reported throughout Wk 17 with an average of 3,049 cases recorded daily, bringing the cumulative total of cases to 411,594 as of May 1.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said this translates to an increase of 22.7 per cent throughout Wk 17 compared to the previous week.
"An increase in cases has been observed for the past five weeks," he said at the weekly press conference by the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force. Present was Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddi, who is coordinating minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.
The number of Covid-19 fatalities, said Dr Adham, has also significantly increased by 69.6 per cent last week compared to the week before.
"A total of 95 total deaths were reported in Wk 17, with an average of 14 deaths per day. This brought the cumulative number of fatalities which resulted from Covid-19 to 1,521 cumulative deaths, with a case fatality rate of 0.37 per cent as of May 1, 2021," he said.
Dr Adham said the same trend was detected in the number of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) cases related to Covid-19, which increased by 25.2 per cent last week compared to the previous week.
He added that there were 86 new Covid-19 clusters detected last week. Of the total, 25 Covid-19 clusters were from the community followed by 24 from education institutions and another 24 from workplaces.
The other new clusters detected last week, he said, included seven linked to religious activities as well as three each from detention centres and high-risk groups.
Dr Adham, however, did not elaborate if the clusters from education institutions were those under the Education Ministry or otherwise.
"A total of 87 localities have been placed under Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) as of May 1, of which 38 localities are in Sabah, 21 in Sarawak, seven in Kelantan, 14 in Pahang, two in Terengganu and one each in Melaka, Perak, Johor, Selangor and Negri Sembilan.
"In addition, 15 localities are placed under MCO, of which three are located in Sabah, six in Pahang, five in in Kedah and one in Johor," he said.