Malaysia to hold back daily Covid-19 numbers a day for clearer view of situation

KUALA LUMPUR — Daily Covid-19 cases will no longer be announced on the same day they are tabulated, said Malaysia’s health minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

Instead, they will be announced together with other related data at 10am the following day, in order to provide the necessary context and alleviate unnecessary public concern over the single piece of information.

“This is to reduce the fear factor and to educate the society to look at the data more than just the daily cases.

“I think the media should also prepare to change the way we reported the case number,” he told a press conference held via Zoom on Thursday (Feb 17).

The Malaysian health ministry has been highlighting the number of daily hospitalisations as a ratio of new cases in an attempt to prevent public panic over the latest surge.

Malaysia is undergoing a new wave of infection caused by the Omicron variant of concern, hitting a new record of 27,831 cases. However only 97 of the cases had been in categories three, four and five that were considered severe.

The country’s health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah typically reveals the daily case after 3pm while other data, including deaths are updated in the CovidNow website and ministry of health’s github page the next day. MALAY MAIL