KUALA LUMPUR, May 4 — Malaysia is facing a new wave of the Covid-19 pandemic due to Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations, warned experts.

The "situation is manageable” but "get ready for the worst”, Universiti Putra Malaysia associate professor of virology Chee Hui Yee told Singapore newspaper The Straits Times.

"Get tested if there are symptoms and self-isolate if you test positive, wear a mask if you have symptoms, and avoid mixing with others and avoid going to crowded places,” she was quoted as saying.

Some experts have advised the public to self-test prior returning to school after the Hari Raya Aidilfitri holidays, which may have been part of the reason there was a shortage of test kits, she reportedly added.

Epidemiologist Professor Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud also told the Singapore daily that Covid-19 tests are showing positive results at a "very high” rate, according to April 22 data on tests done.

"There were 562 cases out of the 2,503 tests carried out on that day alone. That looks like a test positivity rate of 22.4 per cent. I suspect that the 562 cases are a gross underestimate,” the chairman of the Health Ministry’s (MoH) Covid-19 Epidemiological Analysis and Strategies Task Force was quoted as saying.

However, he reportedly noted that there was no data on tests done since April 22.

"So I wonder what the test positivity rate is like and how much we are underestimating the number of new infections,” he was quoted as saying.

Last Monday, national news agency Bernama reported Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa as saying that 12 cases of Covid-19 XBB.1.16 subvariant, also known as the Arcturus variant, have been reported in Malaysia.

All patients were suffering from mild symptoms and were in stable conditions, she reportedly said.

The week before that, MoH data indicated a surge in Covid-19 infections ahead of Hari Raya Aidilfitri festivities.

The number of cases increased by 87.5 per cent in the last 14 days up to April 8, while the number of hospital admissions recorded an increase of 30.5 per cent, the data showed.

The number of deaths in the same period increased by 25 per cent.