THIS week’s big discussion is whether people should or shouldn’t take the Covid-19 booster shot.
Social media is buzzing with the supposed repercussions and negative impacts of the third jab – the problem is, it’s all unfounded hearsay, and it is discouraging many people from getting their booster shots.
Last week, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said 40% of those eligible for booster shots did not turn up for their appointments.
This is a real concern for Malaysia.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah tweeted last week that Covid-19’s R-nought factor, a calculation of the average “spreadability” of an infectious disease, has also gone up again, past the 1.0 mark.
And once again, intensive care unit beds in the country’s local public hospitals are experiencing between 80% and 90% usage, which is critical.
All this means that getting the booster shot is urgent, just as it was previously vital that people get vaccinated.
Getting a booster shot is safe, as it has been given to millions of people worldwide with minimal side effects – more than 21 million Americans have received a booster, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention website.
Don’t be confused or alarmed by talk in WhatsApp chat groups and social media.
Importantly, do not simply forward unverified information. Check and authenticate what you read, find out where the information came from – and your aunty’s next door neighbour’s cousin is not a believable source (unless he or she is a scientist)!
The booster shots – Sinovac, Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines – have all been authorised for use by Malaysia’s National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA).
The NPRA also says it’s OK for recipients of the Sinovac vaccine to get a different vaccine.
No government body would give its approval without researching studies and precedents.
The NPRA, the country’s drug control authority that authenticates the quality, efficacy and safety of all pharmaceutical products in Malaysia, would not risk its reputation and professionalism to allow boosters if it found them unsuitable.
Sinovac vaccine recipients who worry about being scheduled to have the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as a booster should take a look at studies conducted by Chile, Brazil, and Thailand on the use of the mix and match formula.
All three countries have successfully applied the mix-and-match – aka heterologous – formula to lessen the severity of infection among those who had completed their two Sinovac jabs.
People’s fear do need to be properly addressed, though. This is the time for the government to step up efforts to create awareness about the booster shot and how it can help to reduce the infectivity rate among the population.
There should be official channels to counter the adverse social media rumours and talk about the issue.
A barrage of official information could help counter the fake news and encourage more people to keep their MySejahtera appointments to get their booster shots and bring down the R-nought value.
And don’t forget that the highly infectious Delta variant is lurking within the population – booster shots are vital to keep it at bay and stop a spike in the number of cases.
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 cases stayed above the 6,000 mark for the third day straight with 6,355 new infections recorded.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said of yesterday’s cases, 6,240 or 98.2% were mild and asymptomatic.
“Another 1.8% or 115 cases were in Category Three, Four, and Five.
“There were 31 imported cases, involving 20 Malaysians and 11 foreigners,” he said in his daily Covid-19 statement.
Cumulatively, Malaysia recorded a total of 2,575,888 Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began.
Dr Noor Hisham said the infectivity rate had seen a slight decrease in the last few days, with Thursday’s RT level at 1.02.
The country’s RT went up as high as 1.05 on Nov 13. An RT level of 1.0 and above indicates that the Covid-19 outbreak is growing.
Melaka (RT 0.99), Sabah (RT 0.97), Penang (RT 0.96), Perlis (RT 0.89), Sarawak (RT 0.85) and Labuan (RT 0.00) are the only states with RT levels below 1.0.
Dr Noor Hisham added that another 5,031 patients were discharged in the same 24-hour span.
“This brings the total of Covid-19 recoveries to 2,477,314, which is a 96.2% recovery rate.
“Currently, there are 542 patients in intensive care units, of which 436 are confirmed Covid-19 cases and 106 are suspected.
“There are 268 people on ventilator support,” he said, adding that 10 new clusters had been identified nationwide.
According to the Health Ministry’s CovidNow website, 78.4% of active cases as of Thursday are mild or asymptomatic infections requiring home quarantine.
The death toll stands at 29,892 after 55 fatalities were registered on Thursday.
M’sians reminded to continue observing SOP in view of endemic phase
PETALING
JAYA: As Covid-19 cases and hospitalisation rates taper after
heightened pandemic activity in August, health experts are looking at
the government’s preparations for the endemic phase.
Epidemiologist and public health physician Prof Dr Sanjay
Rampal of Universiti Malaya said there was a decline in the national
daily reported cases and an even more pronounced decline in the number
of Covid-19 cases that were ventilated or in the intensive care unit
(ICU).
Next In Nation
As Malaysia enters the last quarter of the year, there is a glimmer of hope that a greater semblance of ‘normalcy’ can return, even if it is a new normal. Daily cases are down from a peak of nearly 25,000 in August while usage of ICU beds remains manageable.
Epidemiologist and public health physician Prof Dr Sanjay Rampal of Universiti Malaya said there was a decline in the national daily reported cases and an even more pronounced decline in the number of Covid-19 cases that were ventilated or in the intensive care unit (ICU).
These trends correlated well with a decreasing trend of test positivity ratio, he added.
As at Sept 27, the positivity rate stood at 9.8%, a decrease from the 14.8% recorded on Sept 16, which was the highest peak from April onwards.
“Based on all these trends, one may conclude that the national burden of Covid-19 has actually drastically decreased in recent weeks,” he said when contacted.
On preparations for the endemic phase or endemicity, Prof Sanjay said that regardless of what the government did, there would still be new cases of Covid-19.
But these cases would have less of an impact on the healthcare system due to the decreased risk of complications in vaccinated people, he said.
“As we learn to coexist with the virus, we must re-adjust back to the time before interstate travel restrictions were enforced while continuing to wear a mask in congested areas, practise good hand hygiene and maintain physical distancing as best as we can.
“Movement restriction should be used as the last resort in the management of the pandemic.
“The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that movement restriction be implemented in high intensity for only short periods and only when the healthcare system is overwhelmed,” he added.
Prof Sanjay said that as Covid-19 became endemic, there would always be a baseline number of new cases daily but there was not enough data yet to accurately estimate this baseline number.
Universiti Putra Malaysia medical epidemiologist Assoc Prof Dr Malina Osman said an obvious decline in cases could be observed, particularly with active cases which stood at over 268,000 in August compared to over 168,000 on Wednesday.
“Similar patterns were observed for other indicators like hospitalisation, the number of patients in ICUS and those on ventilators.
“This indicates that the situation is much better compared to the previous month,” she added.
However, Dr Malina opined that the positivity rate being kept less than 5% was relevant during the late containment stage or earlier but once the outbreak was already in the mitigation stage, the value was no longer helpful in managing the outbreak.
On Covid-19 testing, Dr Malina said from a public health point of view, the numbers were acceptable as Malaysia had opted for targeted screening rather than mass screening.
She added that the focus now should be more on hospitals and clinical indicators rather than the number of screening tests.
On endemicity, Dr Malina said that as the situation had improved greatly and hospitals were no longer in a compromised state, the system would be able to cope.
“The government through the Health Ministry has taken all the necessary steps to cope with the surge of cases for the past few months.
“I think the major responsibility should be shared by the community as well. Communities should be empowered to decide on their own the best way to achieve optimum health status.
“They should know the best option to avoid getting infected. Practising recommended preventive practices and avoiding risky behaviours should be encouraged,” she added.
Malaysian Public Health Physicians’ Association president Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar agreed that the declining hospitalisation rates and daily cases were good signs as all the indicators were showing a downward trend.
“We are ready for the endemic phase. Vaccination for people over 12 years old should continue and so should surveillance on new clusters and variants,” he said.
The government should also continue with the current testing strategy and monitor the positivity rate until it was down to less than 5%, with over 150,000 daily tests conducted, he added.
The rates for hospitalisation, daily infections as well as deaths are currently declining after the nation was hit with a surge of Covid19 cases in July and August.
According to data from April to September this year, the highest number of Covid-19 patients hospitalised was on Aug 16, when 16,081 hospital beds were occupied, compared to 9,185 on Sept 29.
The highest number of daily infections was also recorded on Aug 26, at 24,599 cases logged compared to 12,434 on Sept 29.
As for deaths, Aug 7 recorded the highest number of actual deaths on a seven-day average at 334 lives lost, while reported deaths stood at 210 on the same date.
In contrast, Sept 29 recorded 88 actual deaths on a seven-day average and 208 reported deaths on the same date.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that the entire country had moved out of Phase One of the government’s National Recovery Plan.
Penang (2,474) reached a new record Sspt 8, 2021. Hospitalisation of Covid-19 patients has also been trending up, despite 49.4 percent of its population being vaccinated. [see vaccination chart below]
Hospital bed use for Covid-19 patients in Penang has reached 109 percent - the highest in the country - while intensive care bed use is 93.2 percent. [see hospitalisation chart below]
In Sarawak (3,100), the authorities said 99.87 percent of new cases involved patients in Category 1 or 2 (no symptoms or mild symptoms). However, Health Ministry data shows that hospitalisation is still on a 14-day uptrend.
Hospital bed use by Covid-19 patients Negeri Sembilan has dropped 70.9 percent since peaking on July 31.
As of yesterday, the R-naught for the country is 0.95. A R-naught of less than 1.00 suggests that the spread of Covid-19 was slowing down.
The R-naught for the Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Negeri Sembilan have all fallen below 0.90.
Regions where the R-naught is more than 1.00 are Pahang, Perak, Terengganu, Sarawak, Perlis and Penang, Malacca and Johor.
The number of active cases have continued trend downwards today the intensive care bed use is dropping slowly over the past month.
Active cases: 248,673
Patients in ICU: 904*
Intubated: 430*
[Does not include patients classified as 'probable'.]
New cases by states
Sarawak (3,100)
Selangor (2,989)
Penang (2,474)
Sabah (2,067)
Johor (1,867)
Kedah (1,564)
Kelantan (1,471)
Perak (1,319)
Terengganu (904)
Pahang (700)
Kuala Lumpur (537)
Malacca (375)
Negeri Sembilan (256)
Perlis (74)
Putrajaya (29)
Labuan (7)
Deaths
The Health Ministry reported another 361 deaths attributed to Covid-19 today, bringing the national death toll to 19,163.
There were 102 patients who were pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital of which a quarter were reported in Sabah alone.
Selangor (67) reported the highest number of deaths followed by Johor (65), Sabah (54), Kedah (51), Kuala Lumpur (34), Negeri Sembilan (29), Kelantan (17), Sarawak (10), Terengganu (9), Malacca (8), Perak (6), Penang (5), Pahang (4) and Perlis (2).
Clusters
The Health Ministry is currently monitoring 1,459 active Covid-19 clusters.
Another 35 new clusters were classified today of which 20 involved workplaces.
Industri Jalan Nuri cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Kuala Langat
Total infected: 79 out of 122 screened
Tapak Bina Persiaran Elmina cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Petaling
Total infected: 67 out of 129 screened
Industri Dua Jalan Anggerik Mokara 47 cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Klang
Total infected: 50 out of 167 screened
Industri Dua Jalan Bandar Lama cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Kuala Langat and Klang
Total infected: 30 out of 36 screened
Tapak Bina Persiaran Laman View cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Sepang
Total infected: 20 out of 69 screened
Tapak Bina Jalan Elegan cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Sepang
Total infected: 12 out of 92 screened
Pasar Matu cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Sarawak
District(s): Matu
Total infected: 29 out of 121 screened
Tapak Bina Jalan Tasek Mutiara Tujuh cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Penang
District(s): Seberang Perai Selatan
Total infected: 123 out of 518 screened
Tapak Bina Jalan Kubang Menerong cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Penang
District(s): Seberang Perai Utara and Seberang Perai Tengah
Total infected: 81 out of 290 screened
Jalan Mayang Pasir Tiga cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Penang
District(s): Barat Daya and Timur Laut
Total infected: 46 out of 468 screened
Zon Industri Bebas Tiga cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Penang
District(s): Barat Daya
Total infected: 21 out of 283 screened
Tapak Bina Jalan Tengku Azizah cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Johor
District(s): Johor Bahru
Total infected: 56 out of 235 screened
Industri Jalan Gangsa Kulai cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Johor
District(s): Kulai
Total infected: 18 out of 230 screened
Industri Jalan Johor Ayer Hitam cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Johor
District(s): Batu Pahat
Total infected: 15 out of 656 screened
Dah Tapak Bina Patani cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Kedah
District(s): Kuala Muda
Total infected: 54 out of 226 screened
Dah Empat Industri Sungai Petani cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Kedah
District(s): Kuala Muda
Total infected: 51 out of 117 screened
Industri Persiaran Pengkalan 32 cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Perak
District(s): Kinta
Total infected: 35 out of 120 screened
Semambu Empat cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Pahang
District(s): Kuantan
Total infected: 29 out of 55 screened
Ladang Jalan Bahau Rompin cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Negeri Sembilan
District(s): Jempol
Total infected: 75 out of 336 screened
Jalan PBR 12 cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Malacca
District(s): Melaka Tengah
Total infected: 25 out of 90 screened
Jalan Kubang Golok Merabang cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Kelantan
District(s): Bachok
Total infected: 20 out of 36 screened
Kampung Gong Manak cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Kelantan
District(s): Pasir Puteh
Total infected: 15 out of 18 screened
Jalan Kubang Kacang cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Kelantan
District(s): Kota Bharu
Total infected: 14 out of 23 screened
Kampung Kedap cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Kelantan
District(s): Pasir Mas, Machang and Kota Bharu
Total infected: 14 out of 26 screened
Kampung Kuala Besar cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Kelantan
District(s): Kota Bharu
Total infected: 9 out of 17 screened
Lorong Pasir Lada cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Kelantan
District(s): Kota Bharu
Total infected: 9 out of 15 screened
Lorong Madrasah cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Kelantan
District(s): Pasir Mas
Total infected: 9 out of 13 screened
Lorong Penggawa Yahya cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Kelantan
District(s): Pasir Mas
Total infected: 5 out of 6 screened
Jalan Sutera Bakar Batu cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Johor
District(s): Johor Bahru
Total infected: 116 out of 193 screened
Sungai Tekam Jerantut cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Pahang
District(s): Jerantut
Total infected: 27 out of 82 screened
Lemujan cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Sarawak
District(s): Pakan
Total infected: 38 out of 42 screened
Jalan Chemor Estate cluster
Category: High-risk group
State(s): Perak
District(s): Kinta
Total infected: 75 out of 97 screened
Kampung Ayer Papan cluster
Category: High-risk group
State(s): Perak
District(s): Kinta
Total infected: 13 out of 31 screened
Jalan SP 5/4 cluster
Category: Non-Education Ministry institution
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Kuala Langat
Total infected: 17 out of 118 screened
Jalan Scientex 20 cluster
Category: Institusi Pendidikan Swasta Berdaftar di Bawah KPM
State(s): Johor
District(s): Kulai
Total infected: 11 out of 48 screened
Tan Sri Ismail Merican was the former Director General of Health and President of the Malaysian Medical Council. He was among those who
managed the SARS outbreak in 2002. Finally breaking his silence, he shares with us his thoughts on how the pandemic is being handled and real solutions to solve our current crisis.
Disclaimer: All opinions expressed are purely personal and do not reflect the views of any organisation.
LETTER More than a year and a half after the first case of Covid-19 in Malaysia and with endless rounds of movement control order (MCO) of various forms plus multiple knee-jerk fire-fighting measures, it is clear that the Health Ministry is still struggling for a comprehensive solution.
The rakyat has faithfully delivered what was asked of them.
They have taken in stride, the toll, the pain and suffering of the hardship of the pandemic and its purported solution. Yet, we are constantly dismayed and disgusted to read and hear about how our politicians and leaders have failed to deliver their share of what is needed - stable leadership.
Instead, they seemed more engaged in their own political survival and happily dancing in and out of the country. They and their supporters display utter disregard for the rules and regulations which they themselves have set.
The national immunisation programme seems to be set with countless muddles, hurdles and supply issues and has not given the rakyat the assurance that the vaccine is indeed the silver bullet to end this misery.
The current industrial action (CodeBlack) by the junior doctors asking for a resolution to their contract problems with the MOH, signals the breaking of a healthcare system that was once proudly touted to be one of the best in the world.
It is clear that we have not learnt and have not taken action from all the many mistakes made in the past and present.
Instead, problems were swept aside and left unaddressed year after year from the overproduction of doctors to the long-standing issue of healthcare inequity.
We have become an example of how things could have been done in a better way.
Thus when put to the Covid-test, it cannot be denied that our healthcare system has failed, putting us now in the league of the worst-performing nations.
It is time again to support the call for a Royal Commission on Healthcare in Malaysia that was proposed in 2017 at the Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Oration of the Academy of Medicine.
The oration has put on record the facts and figures (ironically sourced from MOH studies itself) to justify why only a royal commission was the way forward to seek holistic solutions for the future of Malaysian healthcare.
The advice seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.
Healthcare is a basic right of the rakyat. Having an equitable, effective and compassionate system is what is expected.
It must be the duty of the government to deliver this at all times especially so in a time of national calamity.
DR STEVEN KW CHOW
President
Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations Malaysia
The writer is president of the Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations Malaysia.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
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Patients lying on stretchers outside the emergency department of the Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah in Klang because there is no place for them inside.
PETALING JAYA: The health system in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Labuan will soon be paralysed unless there is a reduction in daily Covid-19 case numbers, warns health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
In a statement on his Facebook page, Noor Hisham said that to date, the two states and federal territories have shown an increase in new daily cases which exceed the maximum capacity of hospitals there.
He also expressed concern about the trend of Covid-19 cases being admitted to intensive care units (ICU), saying that the ICU bed capacity nationwide is now over 90%.
“The number of new daily cases being reported shows no sign of reduction, and instead, had increased by an average of 2.6% over the last seven days,” Noor Hisham said.
“If this goes on, the health systems in these two states and federal territories will be paralysed,” he said.
Noor Hisham said that among the steps the health ministry has taken to address this is by dedicating several hospitals in the Klang Valley solely to treat Covid-19 patients – Hospital Ampang, Hospital Sungai Buloh and the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Specialist Children’s Hospital (HPKK UKM).
It is also considering using Hospital Shah Alam to treat Covid-19 cases and has proposed that this be allowed at the Universiti Putra Malaysia Teaching Hospital (HUPM) and Hospital Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM
Apart from further increasing the bed capacity at Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL), Hospital Selayang and Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (HTAR) in Klang to be used as treatment centres for Category 4 and 5 patients, Noor Hisham said that the health ministry is also transferring non-Covid-19 patients to private hospitals – especially around HKL and HTAR.
Noor Hisham’s statement comes just hours after Klang MP Charles Santiago highlighted the scarcity of beds at HTAR, where Covid-19 patients were “parked” outside the emergency department due to a lack of beds inside.
Last week, social media was abuzz with photos of doctors in Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) performing procedures and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the floor as the hospital’s capacity was stretched beyond its limit.
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia is seeing a dip in the Covid-19 infectivity rate. Though this is encouraging, health experts caution the public against taking their foot off the pedal.
Universiti Putra Malaysia medical epidemiologist Assoc Prof Dr Malina Osman said the downward trend proved that the preventive measures put in place were effective.
“Our steps to control the outbreak are on track but we have to continue this effort to reduce it further.
“It is a good sign, but if we loosen our grip, the number of infections is set to potentially increase, ” she said.
Dr Malina added that while the country’s R value was showing a decline, the aim would be to push it down to near zero.
The R value, or reproduction number, refers to the infectivity rate of a virus at a particular point in time.
It represents the average number of people an infected person could spread the disease to, so an R value of lower than 1 means that the number of people being infected on average will be fewer over time.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the R value had dropped to below 1 during the first week of the lockdown.
Yesterday, it was recorded at 0.99.
On May 31, before the two-week lockdown was implemented, it was 1.09.
Previously, the R value was also recorded at levels of 1.21 and 1.16, on May 23 and May 29, respectively.
International Islamic University Malaysia epidemiologist Prof Dr Jamalludin Ab Rahman said while the R value did show a positive impact, it was not enough.
Malaysia was not out of the woods yet, he said.
“R alone is not enough. For example, we should look at fatality rates, or the number of new clusters.
“Should we be happy with an R value that is lower than 1?
“Yes. But is the effort enough? Not yet, ” Dr Jamalludin pointed out.
“The R value has to be persistently low. Until when? There is no precise answer.”
He said that while the MCO and lockdown had reduced mobility among the general population considerably, Malaysia was still seeing transmissions in factories.
“The government really needs to settle this source of infections.
“The movement control order can solve sporadic cases in the community but if factories are still operating and close contact in crowded spaces is not being controlled, we will continue to have cases from factories, ” he added.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia epidemiologist Assoc Prof Dr Azmi Mohd Tamil agreed.
He said that unless a relational database – where all secondary cases were mapped out to each primary case – it would not be possible to get the accurate average number of secondary persons infected from a single primary case.
“What we have is only an estimate based on a mathematical model.
“As long as we have cases in the community, the outbreak will continue – until the majority of the population is immune to the disease.”
At present, Dr Azmi said, “all possible cases of Covid-19 need to be screened, identified and isolated from the susceptible population”.
He reckoned that the lockdown should not be lifted on June 14.
“The number of cases does not support that – even though the R value is currently below 1, ” he added
PETALING JAYA: Spending almost two weeks in hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 last year is something housewife Sharifah Farah Ayuni Syed Rosli does not want to go through again – ever.Now, she and her husband have only one important thing in mind – to look after and protect their three children from being infected.
“That harrowing experience was enough to jolt us. We hope neither we nor our kids get infected by the disease,” said the 30-year-old from Kota Baru.
Recalling her stay, Sharifah said she spent about 13 days in hospital with her businessman husband Mohd Azlee Che Mohd Zaid and their son, Mir Ali Zafar, who was three months old at the time.
While she was well cared for by medical workers there, the housewife said she was mentally exhausted thinking about her two other children, who tested negative and placed in their grandmother’s care.
“Nowadays, I get a little anxious if I feel unwell, worrying if I contracted Covid-19 again.
“Thankfully, we are all healthy. We understand that we must stay at home to guard against getting infected,” she said.
Recently, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said there was a rise in infections among younger children, some of whom had to be treated at intensive care units.
Sharifah said she and her husband tried to set good examples for their three children, now aged six, four and one-and-a-half, and remind them to wash their hands and wear their face masks properly.
She said her children understood that they could not go for outings because of the pandemic.
“We are grateful that they are obedient and follow our advice.
“There are times when they get upset and sulk, as children sometimes do, but they listen,” Sharifah said.
Kiranjit Muniandy wonders if she is doing enough to protect her 19-month-old daughter from getting infected.
“The number of kids getting infected of late is alarming. It’s tougher now because she is at that age where she just wants to touch everything,” she said.
Kiranjit, 39, was also worried about the high number of new cases daily.
“My husband and I have decided not to go out and stay at home.
“We have also stopped receiving visitors. We take care of our daughter while we work from home.
“Thankfully, we work on shifts. My husband works in the day while I work at night so we take turns,” said the banking executive.
Kiranjit said she would take every precaution to protect her family from being infected and hoped that the pandemic would end soon as she misses her family in Sabah.
“My daughter has not met her grandparents for over a year,” she said.
