KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia recorded a 57.3% spike in weekly Covid-19 cases, from 2,305 (November 12-18) to 3,626 (November 19-25), said the Health Ministry.
Some 48% of the new cases are those aged between 20 and 40, while more than 98% are showing mild symptoms.
So far, eight clusters amounting to 121 cases remain active while 7,248 cumulative clusters were recorded as of November 25.
The majority of the clusters are education.
The admission rate of Covid-19 patients (including suspected cases) has increased to 2.9 per 100,000 population during November 19-25 (epidemiology week 47/2023) compared to the previous week.
Epidemiology week 47/2023 also recorded four new Omicron variants, which are variants of concern.
Recently, the World Health Organisation reported an increase in cases of the new Omicron variant BA.2.86 (which is classified as a variant of interest) that was first reported on July 24. To date, there are 46 countries reporting the BA.2.86 variant.
Meanwhile, the results of respiratory virus surveillance in week 47/2023 found that 55% of the samples consisted of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, 26% influenza A(H3) virus, 14% influenza A virus (H1N1), and 5% influenza B virus. – December 3, 2023