Daily cases are expected to reach 15,000 soon as Malaysia is in the midst of a wave of COVID-19 Omicron variant infection, says Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

Photo via The Straits Times

“Fully into the Omicron wave. The daily cases will hit 15,000 soon.

“There are still one million senior citizens who do not have a booster dose. Please inform your loved ones to get a booster dose immediately,” he said in a tweet.

Fully into Omicron wave. Kes akan mencecah 15k tidak lama lagi. Masih ada 1 juta warga emas yang tiada dos penggalak. Tolong maklum kepada orang2 tua kesayangan anda untuk mendapat dos penggalak dengan segera. https://t.co/IAejbJNrHO

— Khairy Jamaluddin 🇲🇾🌺 (@Khairykj) February 6, 2022

According to The Star, health director-general Tan Sri Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah said 10,089 cases were recorded on Sunday (February 6th), taking the cumulative total to 2,914,220.

He also added that the daily COVID-19 cases could reach 22,000 a day by the end of March if the infectivity rate (R0) remains at 1.2. Alamak, that’s very worrying!

However, he said that Malaysia’s good vaccination coverage would ensure the severity of COVID-19 infections remained low. 

At present the Ro/Rt of 1.2. we expect to reach 22K cases by end of March 2022. Hence the onus is on us to comply to all the public health & social measures plus increasing the vaccination and booster shot coverage to reduce the transmission & lower the Ro/Rt to less than 1.

— Noor Hisham Abdullah (@DGHisham) February 6, 2022

We are not out of the woods yet, guys! 

Please get yourself vaccinated if you haven’t. Remember to wear a face mask when you’re out in public, sanitize your hands regularly and avoid crowded places!

We don’t want another MCO, so take care of yourself and the people around you. We’re all in this together!

By: Aishah Akashah Ahadiat