KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 — The Ministry of Health (MoH) disclosed today that Terengganu had the country’s highest Covid-19 reproduction rate (R0 or Rt) as of yesterday, ahead of Sabah and Kedah.
The state on the east coast of the peninsula was among five nationwide that transitioned into a more relaxed phase of Malaysia’s lockdown measures to slow the spread of the infectious disease.
The other four states that have been placed under the Phase Two of the National Recovery Plan are Perlis, Perak, Kelantan and Terengganu.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that Sabah’s Rt is at 1.25 followed by Kedah at 1.23.
“The Covid-19 infectivity rate or R0/Rt based on estimation on daily cases on July 5 for the entire nation is 1.12,” Dr Noor Hisham said in a statement today.
Other states that recorded Rt above 1.00 are Penang (1.22), Johor (1.20), Putrajaya (1.19), Selangor (1.12), Negri Sembilan and Pahang (1.14 each), Perak (1.13), Melaka (1.12), Kelantan (1.10) and Kuala Lumpur (1.09).
Only two states recorded an Rt of below 1.0, namely Sarawak (0.95) and Labuan (0.75).
For Covid-19 to be effectively suppressed, the Rt — measuring the average number of people within the remaining vulnerable population that could be infected by each new Covid-19 patient at a given time — must be below 1.0.
States under phase two would be allowed to restore more socio-economic activities such as hairdressers and barbers as well as individual sports. Essential services will also be allowed to run with up to 80 per cent capacity.
Yesterday, Malaysia recorded 12,366 Covid-19 cases on Hari Raya Aidiladha, after a slight reduction in numbers to just over 10,000 in the last two days.
Selangor topped the list as the state with the most infections, with 5,524 cases, followed by the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur with 1,580 cases and Negri Sembilan with 970 cases.
