PETALING JAYA: The daily number of new Covid-19 cases in the country is expected to continue its downward trend in the coming months, say health experts.
Universiti Putra Malaysia epidemiologist Assoc Prof Dr Malina Osman said the drop in the number of cases could largely be attributed to the high vaccination coverage and that many had already been infected in past months.
“The current situation is largely attributed to our vaccination rate and the fact that more and more people have been infected with mild symptoms over the past few months.
“The community also seems to have practised the recommended standard operating procedure (SOP),” she said.
Yesterday, daily cases dropped below 10,000 for the first time since Feb 5 to 8,112 cases.
Dr Malina also believes school attendance and Ramadan might not have much impact as the situation has started to stabilise.
“I think (there has been) no (increase in education and emergence of Ramadan clusters).
“For the next three to six months, the situation will most likely be more stable.
“We can observe a further decline in the number of new and active cases but the (health) impact to those who are still not fully inoculated or not vaccinated will be the same.
“Whether there is a possible new cluster or not, continuing data surveillance is needed,” she added.
Volunteers For Community Engagement and Empowerment For Covid-19 chairman Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar said the latest data was a positive sign that the country was doing the right thing.
He, however, cautioned the public not to let their guard down, adding that it was yet too early to see the impact of the Ramadan month.
“The reduced number of cases is good but we have to be careful since we interact with each other more now.
“But most people are more confident, given that we have a good immunisation rate as well as immunity status.
“The only thing that we should be concerned about is when there’s a new variant, but so far, we are confident that we will be able to fight through this until the end,” he said.