BY James Kon

Over 1,500 cases of COVID-19 infections since early February have beenof children aged five and below, said Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar in a press conference on Thursday.

The minister said since the third wave began in early February, children aged five and below make up 7.6 per cent (1,574 cases) of total cases. He said no children in the age group had been found in Categories 3, 4 or 5 as of on Thursday.

One COVID-19 related death was reported on Thursday – an 88-year-old man who was not vaccinated and had respiratory problems due to the virus, said the minister. This raised the number of deaths due to COVID-19 to 62.

Meanwhile, the country reported 3,721 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 48,055. The minister said 2,980 cases were reported from antigen rapid test (ART) results uploaded to the Ministry of Health’s (MoH) portal and 741 were from 4,025 RT-PCR laboratory tests performed in the past 24 hours.

The minister said 875 cases had recovered on Thursday, bringing the total number of active cases in the country to 24,349.

Eight cases with COVID-19 are in Category 4, requiring oxygen assistance and are under close monitoring. Three cases (two new cases) are in Category 5 and require artificial ventilation assistance and treatment at the intensive care unit.

Meanwhile, there are 162 active clusters being monitored by the MoH, none involving businesses or public places.

The bed occupancy rate in isolation centres nationwide is seven per cent where 166 active cases are placed in isolation centres, while 23,934 positive cases are currently undergoing home self-isolation.

As of Wednesday, 52.9 per cent of the population had received a booster of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Also in attendance was Deputy Permanent Secretary (Professional) at the MoH Dr Ang Swee Hui.

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin