PETALING JAYA: Except for the rise in education clusters, all main indicators related to Covid-19 in the country have shown reductions, says Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

       The Health director-general said the reduction in indicators such as new cases, deaths, ventilator use and ICU treatment came about despite a slight increase in the country’s infectivity levels.

       “All categories of clusters showed a downward trend, except for education clusters,” he said in a statement yesterday.

       He said there was a 7.8% reduction in the number of new cases for the epidemiological week 48 from two weeks ago, a 3.3% reduction in deaths from the previous week and 11% reduction in ICU treatment.

       “A downward trend in ventilator use started 16 weeks ago while ICU treatment for Covid-19 has shown consecutive reductions.

       “The reduction of both these indicators are in line with the increase in vaccination, which is now at 77.9% for those who have completed their inoculation,” said Dr Noor Hisham.

       He said only 227 clusters out of the 5,969 recorded ones were still active, which was a 3% reduction.

       “However, the increase in the education cluster again is not something to be viewed lightly.

       “Non-adherence by an individual with existing standard operating procedures will give rise to unwanted clusters. Data showed that out of the 16 clusters involving educational institutions, 12 occurred in secondary schools and higher educational institutes,” he said.

       While most of the teenage and adult population are completely vaccinated, he urged them to continue to be mindful of the SOP.