KUALA LUMPUR, 11 JULY: According to Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, the ‘battle’ to contain the Covid-19 pandemic is intensifying and is now more concentrated in the Klang Valley due to its high population density and transportation activities. As a result, he said, in addition to raising the vaccination rate, rigorous restrictions had been put in place for the next two weeks to prevent the virus from spreading in the area.
“These two weeks will allow us to identify the locations affected, improve screenings, detect instances among close contacts, and limit infections in the population.”
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The second goal is to boost immunization rates in the Klang Valley. Because of its vast population, Selangor is still behind in terms of vaccines. “There may be many doses being delivered, but the percentage (in terms of its population) is still low,” he said last night on Bernama TV’s ‘The Nation,’ hosted by Bernama chairman Datuk Ras Adiba Radzi.
Yesterday, Malaysia recorded 9,353 new Covid-19 instances, with Selangor leading the way with 4,277 cases, followed by Kuala Lumpur (1,398).
Dr. Noor Hisham believes the Covid-19 virus can be managed as vaccination rates rise, with a focus on high-risk areas and sectors that are now allowed to function under Phase One of the National Recovery Plan’s Movement Control (PPN).
According to him, the Ministry of Health (MOH) expects 70 percent to 80 percent of the Malaysian population to be vaccinated by September or early October, thanks to the enhanced capacity of delivering 300,000 to 400,000 doses of vaccines each day.
He predicted that the vaccination drive’s success would become clear once at least half of the population had been immunized.
Meanwhile, he noted that health workers from states that have reached Phase Two of the PPN will be stationed at Covid-19 hotspots in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.
He acknowledged that health frontliners were burnt out after fighting the pandemic for nearly two years, but he urged the ‘national heroes’ to persevere and not give up the fight.
“This is a protracted conflict that takes time to win.” All of us, especially Malaysian citizens and frontline workers, are affected. “Right now, it’s a really severe conflict,” he remarked./n
