Malaysia is well-prepared to handle a spike in COVID-19 cases but the country has to address several weaknesses, said the World Health Organisation (WHO) representative.
Dr Lo Ying-Ru Jacqueline, the WHO representative to Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore, said the weaknesses include preventing infections at detention centres, and strengthening the surveillance system by increasing awareness within the private healthcare sector.
“I think Malaysia is well-prepared for the next surge. (But) it may be good to look at the closed settings, confined settings, prisons, (and see that) the measures recommended by the government are also actually implemented.
“I understand preparations are underway and measures have been taken but it has to go down to the implementation. It has to be monitored very carefully,” she told Bernama in an exclusive interview at her office.
Malaysia has seen a return to double- and triple-digit infections of local transmission of COVID-19 after reporting a lull in infections in July and August when most of its daily load of cases came from overseas.
To date, 582 inmates, staff, family members and close contacts in Tawau and Lahad Datu and one person in Sandakan, all in Sabah, tested positive for the new coronavirus. All of them are within the detention centre cluster.
Dr Lo also said that the surveillance system needed to be improved by educating the private healthcare sector on the various symptoms of COVID-19.
“We know that in COVID-19, the majority of cases is asymptomatic. They can have very mild symptoms or even no symptoms. So, it’s very difficult and complicated (to determine) ‘when do we test? It’s very important that constant training is expanded to private sector facilities because COVID-19 can be present anywhere,” she added.
Malaysia has had several cases arising from the failure of private doctors and health practitioners to test and notify health authorities of possible COVID-19 cases.
Private health practitioners are required but not obligated to test and report patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) and Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) symptoms as part of the COVID-19 surveillance system.
Dr Lo said that to prevent this, health practitioners should take advantage of the easy availability of tests in Malaysia and do more tests.
Malaysia has improved its daily testing capacity, from 11,500 in March to about 40,000 now.
She commended Malaysia for moving away from testing only symptomatic individuals, and expanding testing to other communities.
She said increasing testing was important to finding sporadic cases, such as the four reported in Kedah on Sunday.
“Testing and searching for cases is one of the key strategies to prevent further COVID-19 transmissions. It’s a very, very important strategy,” she said.
Dr Lo also reminded that it is important to be prepared to keep practising COVID-19 preventive measures long after a safe and effective vaccine becomes available, projected by the WHO to be by the end of 2021.
“The vaccine alone is not the solution. The vaccine has to be available in the quantities we need,” she said.
Malaysia joined the COVAX facility, an initiative by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and WHO, on Sept 19.
-- BERNAMA
Bernama
Tue Sep 22 2020
Dr Lo Ying-Ru Jacqueline, the WHO representative to Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore, said the weaknesses include preventing infections at detention centres, and strengthening the surveillance system - WHO
Rumah kebajikan warga emas dipukul tidak berdaftar - Nancy
Rumah kebajikan dihuni warga emas yang dipukul dengan kayu di Taman Desa Aman, Padang Serai, Kedah didapati tidak berdaftar dengan JKM.
Pasangan beregu badminton Soon Huat-Shevon kongsi gambar praperkahwinan
Pasangan beregu campuran negara, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai, hari ini berkongsi gambar praperkahwinan mereka, yang dijangka akan dilangsungkan tidak lama lagi.
Kementerian Perpaduan lancar Inisiatif Harmoni Madani
Kementerian Perpaduan Negara hari ini melancarkan Inisiatif Harmoni Madani.
Kes 1MDB: Najib percaya Blackstone dikawal Arab Saudi, Raja Abdullah - Saksi
Saksi memberitahu Najib percaya bahawa syarikat Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners dikawal oleh kerajaan Arab Saudi dan Raja Arab Saudi.
Apple dalam perbincangan guna teknologi OpenAI dalam iOS 18 - Laporan
iOS 18 akan membawakan perubahan paling besar untuk sistem operasi iPhone tahun ini dan integrasi sistem AI akan akhirnya didedahkan.
PRK Kuala Kubu Baharu: BN pamer komitmen tinggi pastikan kemenangan calon - Loke
BN menunjukkan komitmen tinggi dalam memastikan kemenangan calon PH, pada PRK Kuala Kubu Baharu.
Empat maut, dua pacuan empat roda bertembung
Empat individu maut dalam kemalangan melibatkan dua pacuan empat roda di Kilometer 78, Jalan Kota Bharu-Gua Musang tengah malam tadi.
Uqasha Senrose selamat bersalin, beri nama anak Uqaira
Pelakon Uqasha Senrose mengumumkan telah selamat melahirkan puteri sulungnya pada awal pagi Sabtu.
Thomas Cup: Permulaan cemerlang buat Malaysia
Malaysia bermula cemerlang pada perlawanan pembukaan Piala Thomas 2024, dengan menewaskan Hong Kong 5-0 hari ini.
PRK Kuala Kubu Baharu: Proses penamaan calon lancar - Polis Selangor
Proses penamaan calon bagi PRK Kuala Kubu Baharu hari ini berjalan lancar tanpa sebarang insiden tidak diingini.
Putera Mateen dan isteri, Dayang Anisha tunai umrah
Pasangan Putera Mateen dan isteri, Dayang Anisha Rosnah sedang menjalani ibadah umrah di bulan Ramadan.
Tiada syarikat dilantik untuk projek Kereta Api Trans-Borneo - Kerajaan Brunei
Kerajaan Brunei tidak ada menawarkan atau melantik sebarang syarikat tempatan atau antarabangsa untuk melaksanakan projek Kereta Api Trans-Borneo.
Kerajaan Brunei nafi penglibatan projek Trans Borneo Railway
Kerajaan Brunei Darussalam mengesahkan tidak pernah menawarkan ataupun melantik mana-mana syarikat tempatan mahupun luar negeri untuk mengendalikan projek kereta api laju Trans Borneo Railway
Projek Trans Borneo dijangka tidak berlaku dalam masa terdekat - RHB Investment
RHB Investment Bank menjangkakan pelancaran Projek Kereta Api Trans Borneo tidak akan berlaku serta-merta kerana ia memerlukan persetujuan ketiga-tiga negara iaitu Malaysia, Brunei dan Indonesia.
Projek kereta api berkelajuan tinggi, Sabah belum terima maklumat rasmi
Kerajaan Sabah belum menerima sebarang pemakluman rasmi mengenai dakwaan sebuah syarikat dari Brunei yang mengumumkan pelaksanaan projek rangkaian kereta api berkelajuan tinggi pertama di Borneo.
Arab Saudi mula berpuasa pada Isnin
Sebelum ini, Mahkamah Agung Arab Saudi menggesa umat Islam di negara itu untuk cuba melihat anak bulan Ramadan pada petang Ahad, 10 Mac 2024 bersamaan 29 Syaaban 1445 menurut kalendar Islam.
'Ia terlalu peribadi' - Mawar Rashid bakal jawab dakwaan kahwini jejaka dari Brunei
Kata Mawar, dia bakal berkongsi sebarang berita gembira sekiranya sudah bersedia.
Pembinaan Lebuhraya Pesisir Utara Sarawak bermula tahun depan - Abang Johari
Pembinaan Lebuhraya Pesisir Utara yang menghubungkan kawasan Miri, Brunei, Limbang dan Lawas akan bermula tahun depan.
Diaspora Malaysia di Singapura dan Brunei jadi pekerja mahir atau separa mahir
Mohd Uzir berkata 39 peratus rakyat Malaysia di Singapura adalah pekerja mahir dan 35 peratus pekerja separa mahir.
BATC 2024: Skuad lelaki mudah tumpaskan Brunei
Skuad lelaki kebangsaan memulakan kempen Kejohanan Badminton Berpasukan Asia (BATC) 2024 dengan bergaya selepas mudah mengecewakan Brunei, 5-0.