Malaysia reports slight dip with 12,541 new Covid-19 cases
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia has reported 12,541 new Covid-19 cases on Friday (July 16), a slight dip from the record 13,215 cases reported on Thursday.
This brings total cases to 893,323, the Health Ministry said on Twitter.
Malaysia continues to battle surging infections fuelled by the Delta variant despite imposing a lockdown since June 1.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin suggested restrictions be eased for those who are fully vaccinated, however experts say those who are vaccinated may still be able to transmit the virus.
The government is is also hoping to transition into the second phase of its four-phase Covid-19 exit plan as early as August, as vaccinations ramp up.
Experts remain divided on whether the numbers will fall drastically to below 4,000 cases daily by August, a threshold set by the government to move out of the ongoing lockdown.
Malaysia has fully vaccinated 12.3 per cent of its population, which is above the 10 per cent target set to transition into phase two.
The South-east Asia nation also announced it will stop administering the Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by Sinovac beyond its current stock on Thursday, citing sufficient supply of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses to cover 70 per cent of the population.
The announcement to stop using Sinovac’s inactivated virus vaccine comes amid increasing concern over its efficacy against new and more contagious variants of the coronavirus.
Other vaccines approved in Malaysia include AstraZeneca, China’s CanSino Biologic, and the Janssen vaccine of Johnson & Johnson. The authorities also granted conditional approval for the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use on Friday.
Source: Read Full Article
