By Rosli Mansor Ahmad Razali
The Ministry of Health Malaysia (MoH) have informed that since the opening of the border for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on 8 January 2023, the daily reported cases of COVID-19 in Malaysia remained below 500 cases.
According to the media statement by the Malaysian Minister of Health, Dr. Zaliha Mustafa said as of today, based on reports, a total of 28,705 travellers from the PRC were reported to have arrived in Malaysia from January 8 to January 17, 2023.
“So far, only one of the travellers was found to have a fever during the screening. However, the RTK-Ag test conducted on the traveller was negative.
“No traveller from the PRC has tested positive for COVID-19 at the country’s international gateway so far. In fact, daily reporting of COVID-19 cases has remained in the triple digits since December 17, 2022.
“In addition, since the past two weeks, there has been an increasing trend in taking the second booster dose at health facilities across the country.
“Compared to January 1, 2023, the intake of the first booster dose increased from 49.8% or 16,279,746 doses to 49.9% which is 16,292,524 doses,” she said.
She explained further, the second booster dose also saw an increase of 2.2% or 733,668 doses compared to 1.9% or 633,941 before.
The intake of the second booster dose in Sarawak also increased to 76,369 doses on 17 January 2023 compared to 56,462 on 1 January.
“The 35% increase happened within 17 days. On average, the number of second booster doses taken in Sarawak increased 20 times, amounting to 2,085 doses per day compared to 101 doses on December 31, 2022.
“MoH also advises individuals who have not yet received the primary dose of the vaccine and the booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to immediately register and get the vaccine to protect themselves and their loved ones, especially ahead of the Chinese New Year festival season.
“MoH will continue to monitor the development of infections in and outside the country through information obtained from the WHO as well as cooperation with ASEAN countries and PRC countries.
“MoH will always ensure that appropriate prevention and control measures are implemented continuously,” she said.
