It was again a good news, bad news kinda day in terms of our Covid-19 numbers.
 
First, the good! The number of new cases took a slight dip from 660 to 589. And, even better, 409 people were discharged yesterday. That’s the largest amount of recoveries in a single day so far!
 
Now the bad. Despite the recoveries, Malaysia’s active cases have risen to 5,945. There were 3 deaths, bringing the death toll to 170. Four new clusters, spanning four states and two federal territories, have also been detected. 
 
It ain’t looking pretty for the Klang Valley either. Although Sabah remains the state with the most number of cases (304); Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya accounted for more than a quarter of cases (27.2 percent or 160 cases) nationwide.
 
In fact, Selangor alone accounted for 150 cases, pushed up largely by the ‘Utama’ cluster. Named after the popular 1 Utama shopping mall, that particular cluster currently accounts for 132 cases in all. The mall has said 44 of its security guards that tested positive hadn’t been infected within mall premises. 

Experts believe things could get worse in the Klang Valley. And even if they don’t, it’s still likely to be another six weeks before Selangor, at least, sees a downward trend in infections. 

What’s more worrying are reports the mutated super-spreader strain of Covid-19 dubbed D614G, detected in the large ‘Benteng’ LD cluster in Lahad Datu and Tawau, could’ve been exported to the peninsula by Sabah returnees. 

This, we’re told, is possible considering there’ve been 23 new clusters involving 604 Sabah returnees. FYI, a similar, but different, D614G mutation was previously detected, including in the infamous ‘Sivagangga‘ cluster. You can read this to understand more about this mutation and why it causes the virus to spread even faster.

“Concern” is certainly the buzzword of the day: The health ministry is clearly worried, calling on medical and health personnel outside the ministry to volunteer their services to help manage the third wave of infections. 

Sarawak, attempting to stave off a mushrooming of cases, has extended the entry ban on visitors from Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia till Nov 15. 
 
And there seems to be no let-up for poor, beleaguered Sabah. Up to 43 percent of Sabah’s Covid patients are highly-symptomatic, which is more than triple of Malaysia’s 12 percent average back in April. As pointed out by Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii, that means four in 10 coronavirus patients in Sabah are ill enough to be hospitalised. Among them are Kunak assemblywoman Norazlina Arif who’s being treated in Kota Kinabalu.

Yii is advocating not only increased testing but a faster testing process, especially as the figures could indicate a large number of asymptomatic people yet to be detected. 

But while testing capacity has been increased in the country to some extent, Sabah’s numbers are still too hot to handle – the air force has had to fly swab tests to the peninsula for testing as labs in Sabah are overwhelmed. 

To make matters worse, with blood donors shying away from hospitals and blood banks temporarily closed in the wake of the increasing Covid cases in the state, Sabah is experiencing a shortage of blood supply at its health facilities. 

As you can see from the above, Sabah is in dire straits (and we don’t mean in a Mark Knopfler kinda way). As such, you’ll probably be seeing a lot of calls for funds and donations. If you’re looking to contribute to one that’s for sure legit, you can send your $$$ to the Sabah branch of the Malaysian Medical Association. Details here. 

And lastly, if you want to know where Covid-19 has reared its ugly head, you can go here for a list that Malaysiakini’s been updating several times a day.