PUTRAJAYA: Covid-19 cases are expected to increase over a week or two before it stabilises, says Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
“We projected that the number of cases from July 3 will increase. This has been a week, and we anticipate that it will go up for a week or two, before cases will stabilise.
“With our lockdown measures, we saw our cases go down from 9, 000 to around 4, 000, but suddenly it has gone up again.
“One of the reasons is because of the Delta Covid-19 variant, which has an infectivity rate of 5 to 8 in R0 value.
“In comparison, the Wuhan variant had an R0 value of 2.2 to 3.
“This means that if the Delta variant infects 100 people, it could spread to 800 more.
“It is also airborne and so the transmission is faster.
“Therefore, people are encouraged to wear double mask or face shields. Avoid crowded areas because if someone in the crowd is positive, the virus can spread quickly, ” said Dr Noor Hisham in a special press conference on Tuesday (July 13).
Malaysia recorded 11,079 Covid-19 cases on Tuesday - its highest daily figure by far.