PUTRAJAYA: No surge in Covid-19 cases is expected during the upcoming festive celebrations, says the Health Ministry.
Its director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the number of Covid-19 daily cases and hospitalisation rates were also on a downward trend.
He said there are several strategies taken to tackle the spread of Covid-19, the first being to monitor Covid-19 case trends and wastewater samples to detect any new variants.
Dr Noor Hisham then said that stricter Covid-19 mitigation measures will be considered if certain criteria are detected.
This includes a surge in the number of imported cases, the presence of new variants besides Omicron and if there is an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases
He said this at a press conference at the Health Ministry on Tuesday (Jan 10).
An increase in hospitalisations due to Covid-19 will also see the Health Ministry consider stricter Covid-19 mitigation measures, he said.
He added that the Covid-19 variant called XBB.1.5 discovered in the United States has yet to be detected in Malaysia.
“Despite that, we are still monitoring Covid-19 variants and their potential mutations,” he said.
On whether the upcoming Thaipusam and Chinese New Year celebrations would see any standard operating procedures (SOP) being implemented, Dr Noor Hisham said the status quo would remain.
“We have gone through various festive celebrations last year such as the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations and observed that there was no surge in cases. Hence, we will stick to the same procedures practiced during festive celebrations last year,” he said.
Also present at the press conference earlier was Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa and other Health Ministry officials.
