Malaysia's Daily COVID-19 Cases Surpass 9,000 for the First Time... Record Highs for Five Consecutive Days

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] Malaysia's daily new COVID-19 cases have set a record high for five consecutive days, surpassing 9,000 for the first time.

According to the Malaysian Ministry of Health on the 29th, the daily new cases were recorded at 9,020. Since the beginning of this month, daily new cases have exceeded 3,500, showing an increasing trend with 6,000-level cases from the 19th, 7,000-level from the 25th to the 27th, and 8,000-level on the 28th.

The cumulative number of confirmed cases reached 558,534 as of that day. On the 29th alone, 98 deaths were added, the highest since the pandemic began, bringing the total death toll to 2,650.

In the past month, confirmed cases increased by about 150,000 (27% of the cumulative confirmed cases), and deaths rose by 1,144 (43% of the cumulative deaths).

In Malaysia, an Islamic country, the largest holiday 'Eid al-Fitr,' which celebrates the end of Ramadan (the Islamic fasting month), is observed in mid-month. As contact among relatives and neighbors increased, at least 24 clusters of infections occurred, with over 850 people testing positive. The introduction of more contagious variant viruses from India and South Africa is also considered one of the causes of the spread.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced a nationwide full lockdown for two weeks starting from the 1st of next month. Prime Minister Muhyiddin stated, "All business activities except essential economic and service sectors will be suspended for two weeks," and added, "We will soon announce support measures to mitigate the economic impact."

Malaysia also issued a full lockdown including the economic sector in March last year during the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.