Malaysia's daily COVID-19 cases remain below 500 since China reopened borders

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia's daily COVID-19 cases have remained below 500 since China reopened its borders on Jan 8, said Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa.

In a statement today, she said the country has been recording three-digit daily cases since Dec 17, last year.

Dr Zaliha said that according to a report, a total of 28,705 travellers from China arrived in the country between Jan 8 to 17.

So far, she said only one of the travellers was detected to have a fever during screening.

"The traveller's RTK-Ag test result, however, came out negative. No travellers from China have tested positive for COVID-19 at Malaysia's international entry points so far," she said.

Meanwhile, Dr Zaliha said there has been an increasing trend in the uptake of the second booster dose at health facilities across the country over the past two weeks.

On Jan 1, the number of first booster doses administered increased from 49.8 per cent or 16,279,746 doses to 49.9 per cent or 16,292,524 doses.

As for the second booster dose, it increased by 2.2 per cent or 733,668 doses compared to 1.9 per cent or 633,941 doses previously.

Dr Zaliha said the Ministry of Health would continue to monitor the development of infection in the country and abroad through information acquired from the World Health Organisation (WHO) as well as cooperation with other ASEAN countries and China.

"The ministry will always ensure that prevention and control measures are implemented continuously," she said.

-- BERNAMA