KUALA LUMPUR – The number of Covid-19 cases for Epidemiology Week (EW 51/2023), which is from December 17 to 22, increased to 22,413 cases compared to 17,307 cases in EW 50/2023 (December 10 to 15).
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the increase recorded in EW 51/2025 compared to EW 50/2023 was 29.5%.
“During the same period, the number of Covid-19 deaths was reported to have dropped by 23.1%, from 26 deaths to 20,” he said in a statement today.
Dzulkefly said overall, the number Covid-19 patients admitted to health facilities in EW 50/2023 compared to EW 49/2023, namely non-critical beds increased to 1.5% and the filling of ICU beds rose to 3.6%.
He said for the Covid-19 vaccine on December 22 (yesterday), only 50 people received the first booster dose while 120 people received the second booster dose.
Cumulatively as of yesterday, only 16,347,130 Malaysians (50.1%) had received the first booster dose and only 828,686 (2.5%) had received the second booster dose, he added.
Dzulkefly said the Health Ministry will continue to monitor the Covid-19 situation and take immediate and appropriate action if necessary.
The ministry also advises the public to practise good self-assessment and control, including ensuring personal hygiene to avoid contracting infectious diseases including Covid-19, he said.
He said people need to exercise civic responsibility to protect not only themselves, but their families and the entire community, especially high-risk groups.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that the number of Covid-19 cases across the world has increased by 52% in 28 days compared to the previous 28 days, adding that 850,000 cases of the disease had been so far.
“Globally, the number of new cases increased by 52% during the 28-day period of November 20 to December 17, 2023, as compared to the previous 28-day period, with over 850 000 new cases reported,” the WHO said in its weekly epidemiological report on Friday, according to Sputnik.
More than 3,000 people died from the disease during the period, with the number being eight per cent lower than during the previous 28-day period, the organisation added.
As of December 17, over 772 million confirmed Covid-19 cases and more than seven million deaths have been reported to the WHO globally. – December 23, 2023