JOHOR BARU: Johor has recorded an increase in dengue cases with 1,273 reported up to epidemiological week nine (ME9) this year, compared with just 232 cases in the corresponding period last year.
State health and unity committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said of the 1,273 cases recorded so far this year, 452 (35.5%) were epidemic locality cases while 821 (64.5%) were non-epidemic localities.
"There were 143 cases reported in ME9 itself, against 136 the previous week," he said in a statement on Monday (March 6).
Ling attributed the rainy season as the main reason for the rise in dengue cases as stagnant rainwater made the perfect breeding ground for Aedes mosquitoes.
He said Johor Baru district had the highest number of cases with 98, followed by Kulai with 17, and Kluang with 10.
Ling said Batu Pahat had seven cases and Kota Tinggi had four, while Pontian, Tangkak and Muar had two each. Mersing recorded one case.
"There were no deaths in ME9," he said, adding that there had been two deaths since the start of the year up to the ninth week against no fatalities for the same period in 2022.
Ling said a total of 884 compound notices totalling RM425,000 were issued to premises owners found to have Aedes breeding places on their grounds, and 54.6% had already paid up.
He also said the state recorded 398,589 Covid-19 cumulative cases since the start of the pandemic up to Sunday (March 5), of which 395,574 were local infections while 3,015 were imported cases.
“There are 2,021 active cases with 2,008 undergoing home quarantine and 11 cases were hospitalised," said Ling.
He said statistics showed Johor did not record a drastic increase in Covid-19 cases in the recent months and hospital bed usage was still under 1.0%.
Ling said the state Health Department also took note of the emergence of the new XBB1 subvariant in Singapore recently, which contributed to an increase in Covid-19 cases there.
He said as of Saturday (March 4), Johor recorded 329 Covid-19 subvariant XBB cases, with Johor Baru having 189, followed by Muar (32), Kulai (28), Kluang (20), Kota Tinggi (19), Batu Pahat (16), Tangkak (14), Pontian (10) and Segamat (one).
"Although there are reports of the subvariant XXB, the Covid-19 cases in Johor are still under control," he added.
