KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — Malaysia got off to a good start on the first day of phase 3 of the movement control order (MCO), as seven states and the two Federal Territories (FT) of Putrajaya and Labuan recorded zero new Covid-19 cases, while Negri Sembilan and Kedah recorded only one new case each.

In other words, only four states and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur recorded noticeable increases in Covid-19 cases on April 15, based on the latest data released today by the Health Ministry.

This tallies with the 85 new Covid-19 cases recorded in Malaysia on April 15, which is the lowest daily figure for new cases since the government first implemented the MCO on March 18 to slow the spread of the virus.

This is also the first time that Malaysia has recorded fewer than 100 new Covid-19 cases during the MCO period. Other dates during the MCO when the daily number of new Covid-19 cases in Malaysia were relatively low are March 18 (117), March 19 (110), March 24 (106), April 9 (109), April 10 (118).

Status quo in the nine states, two FT

Amid vigorous efforts by the Health Ministry and the authorities' strict enforcement of the MCO where Malaysians are told to stay home, yesterday saw Malaysia breaching the 5,000th mark with 5,072 cases recorded, up from the total tally of 4,987 cases recorded so far on April 14.

As of April 15 noon, the states that did not record any new Covid-19 cases are Perlis at 18 cases, Terengganu (106), Penang (119), Melaka (147), Kelantan (154), Perak (250), Sabah (285), while the Federal Territories of Putrajaya and Labuan — which are also the least populated in Malaysia as compared to states — maintained their tally of 54 cases and 15 cases respectively.

For Kedah and Negri Sembilan, both recorded an increase by one case only to their current tally of 94 and 363 cases respectively on April 15.

Numbers up in four states and KL

The four states and Kuala Lumpur which recorded an increase in Covid-19 cases on April 15 are among the worst-hit in Malaysia, and also happen to be among the most populated in the country.

For example, Selangor, which is the worst affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, has the highest population as a state with 5.46 million in the latest available official statistics by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) in its latest census in 2010.

The total cumulative tally of Covid-19 cases in Selangor increased from 1,299 on April 14 to 1,316 on April 15.

In Selangor, two districts — Hulu Langat and Petaling — have the second and third highest number of Covid-19 cases in the country with tallies of 440 and 363 respectively.

Kuala Lumpur — which is the most densely populated in Malaysia with 6,891 persons per square kilometre as compared to fifth-most densely populated state Selangor at 674 persons or Malaysia as a whole at 86 persons in the 2010 census — is also the second-most affected nationwide by Covid-19, with its total tally of Covid-19 cases increasing from 899 on April 14 to 926 on April 15.

Johor — the second-most populated state at 3.35 million in the 2010 census — is the third-most affected nationwide by Covid-19, and saw its tally increasing from 587 on April 14 to 601 on April 15.

Johor — the second-most populated state at 3.35 million in the 2010 census — is the third-most affected nationwide by Covid-19, and saw its tally increasing from 587 on April 14 to 601 on April 15.

Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Johor are also where selected villages and buildings were placed under an enhanced MCO to enable the Health Ministry to conduct active detection of Covid-19 cases after a high concentration of such cases were found there, with such efforts in EMCO areas resulting in more Covid-19 cases being found there in recent days.

No new orange zones, no new red zones

The Health Ministry classifies districts nationwide according to the number of Covid-19 cases detected there, namely red zone or the most severe category where at least 41 cases have been recorded, orange zone when 21 to 40 cases have been recorded, and yellow zone where one to 20 cases have been recorded and green zones when no cases have been detected.

As of April 15, status quo has been maintained in terms of the districts' classification, with 16 orange zones and 27 red zones throughout the country.

None of the remaining 28 districts spread out over five states lost their status as green zones on April 15. Malaysia originally had a total of 39 districts in seven states with zero Covid-19 cases as of March 25.

The red zones

Malaysia still has 27 red zones, with the Lembah Pantai district in Kuala Lumpur maintaining its 13-day run as the top red zone nationwide at 577 cases or slightly less than the entire state of Johor itself.

The Lembah Pantai district’s total cumulative tally had steadily increased over the past 12 days as the district with the most number of cases nationwide at 322 cases (April 3), 367 cases (April 4), 376 cases (April 5), 386 cases (April 6), 412 cases (April 7), 417 cases (April 8), 424 cases (April 9), 427 cases (April 10), 459 (April 11), 496 cases (April 12), 515 cases (April 13), 572 cases (April 14).

An important point to note for those looking at the Lembah Pantai district figures is that it covers the three parliamentary constituencies of Seputeh, Bukit Bintang and Lembah Pantai, with the latest available breakdown as of April 8 from the Health Department of Federal Territory Kuala Lumpur & Putrajaya showing that a substantial number of the cases in the Lembah Pantai district then were recorded in the Seputeh constituency.

When combined together, the total number of Covid-19 cases in all 27 red zones is 3,876 cases, or 76.4 per cent of the 5,072 cases recorded in Malaysia as of April 15.

The current death toll from Covid-19 in Malaysia stands at 83, while a total of 2,647 or 52.2 per cent of patients have recovered, leaving 2,342 cases under treatment.