Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia (2023)
In this article, we will explore the topic of Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia (2023) from different perspectives and approaches. Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia (2023) is a very important issue today, as it affects a wide spectrum of people and contexts. Over the next few lines, we will analyze the importance of Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia (2023), its impact on society and some possible solutions or approaches to address this issue effectively. Through reflection and critical analysis, we will seek to better understand Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia (2023) and its relevance in everyday life.
On 3 January, Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa announced several measures to curb rising cases as travel increased including testing all overseas travellers for fever and offering walk-in vaccinations at hospitals and clinics from 9 January.
On 4 January, Sabah's State Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun announced that all travellers from China would have to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and had to present a negative COVID-19 test.
On 10 January, the Ministry of Health confirmed that the Immigration Department would be screening travellers from China for COVID-19 in response to an outbreak in China.
On 12 January, Menteri Besar of Selangor Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari stated that the Selangor state government was considering stepping up COVID-19 prevention measures including contact tracing measures if the number of cases in the state rose. He also encouraged residents to take booster doses. That same day, Dr Mustafa confirmed that Malaysia would not be closing its borders since the COVID-19 situation in the country was under control. However, border screenings would continue.
On 13 January, the states of Sarawak and Kedah began screening the temperatures of travellers entering their borders.
On 27 January, The Star reported that Penang state had only reported a total of 235 new cases between 12 and 25 January 2023. Only one of the state's 92 mukim (or sub-districts) remained a red-zone.
On 29 January, the Ministry of Health confirmed that 9,088 of the 9,480 active cases were undergoing home quarantine. In addition 371 individuals (3.9%) were hospitalised with 21 of these cases undergoing intensive care.
February
Date
Cases
Recoveries
Deaths
Current cases
Sources
New
Total
New
Total
New
Total
Active
ICU
Ventilators
1
325
5,036,918
113
4,990,079
0
36,942
9,897
14
9
2
324
5,037,242
148
4,990,227
0
36,942
10,073
12
6
3
340
5,037,582
203
4,990,430
0
36,942
10,210
8
5
4
202
5,037,784
275
4,990,705
1
36,943
10,136
6
6
5
211
5,037,995
272
4,990,977
0
36,943
10,075
10
8
6
175
5,038,170
196
4,991,173
1
36,944
10,053
6
5
7
184
5,038,354
253
4,991,426
2
36,946
9,982
4
4
8
189
5,038,543
279
4,991,705
0
36,946
9,892
7
4
9
269
5,038,812
375
4,992,080
0
36,946
9,786
8
4
10
255
5,039,067
306
4,992,386
4
36,950
9,731
12
5
11
259
5,039,326
390
4,992,776
1
36,951
9,599
11
4
12
160
5,039,486
358
4,993,134
0
36,951
9,401
9
4
13
164
5,039,650
254
4,993,388
1
36,952
9,310
11
6
14
200
5,039,850
155
4,993,543
1
36,953
9,354
11
5
15
237
5,040,087
215
4,993,758
1
36,954
9,375
8
4
16
281
5,040,368
257
4,994,015
0
36,954
9,399
8
2
17
241
5,040,609
235
4,994,250
0
36,954
9,405
9
3
18
212
5,040,821
310
4,994,560
1
36,955
9,306
6
3
19
186
5,041,007
158
4,994,718
1
36,956
9,333
7
4
20
167
5,041,174
169
4,994,888
1
36,957
9,330
9
6
21
184
5,041,358
192
4,995,079
0
36,957
9,322
8
6
22
229
5,041,587
227
4,995,306
0
36,957
9,324
8
6
23
224
5,041,811
278
4,995,584
0
36,957
9,270
9
7
24
204
5,042,015
254
4,995,838
0
36,957
9,220
9
6
25
173
5,042,188
219
4,996,057
0
36,957
9,174
12
7
26
207
5,042,395
175
4,996,232
0
36,957
9,206
10
6
27
190
5,042,585
177
4,996,409
0
36,957
9,219
6
3
28
206
5,042,791
176
4,996,585
1
36,958
9,248
7
3
On 10 February, Health Minister Mustafa confirmed that the Health Ministry would establish a task force to write a White Paper on the COVID-19 vaccine procurement practices of previous Malaysian governments.
On 13 February, Director-General of Health Noor Hisham Abdullah confirmed that COVID-19 data would potentially be released on a weekly rather than daily basis from March 2023.
On 16 February, the Sabah state government confirmed that it would change the frequency of its COVID-19 statements from daily updates to weekly updates issued on Monday.
March
Date
Cases
Recoveries
Deaths
Current cases
Sources
New
Total
New
Total
New
Total
Active
ICU
Ventilators
1
217
5,043,008
233
4,996,818
2
36,960
9,230
7
3
2
244
5,043,252
213
4,997,031
5
36,965
9,256
7
2
3
204
5,043,456
213
4,997,244
0
36,965
9,247
6
1
4
170
5,043,626
178
4,997,422
0
36,965
9,239
4
1
5
164
5,043,790
198
4,997,620
1
36,966
9,204
2
0
6
188
5,043,978
181
4,997,801
0
36,966
9,211
2
0
7
226
5,044,204
202
4,998,003
0
36,966
9,235
4
0
8
235
5,044,439
216
4,998,219
1
36,967
9,253
6
1
9
279
5,044,718
236
4,998,455
0
36,967
9,296
5
1
10
251
5,044,969
197
4,998,652
0
36,967
9,350
6
2
11
223
5,045,192
193
4,998,845
0
36,967
9,380
4
1
18
270
5,047,040
235
5,000,411
3
36,972
9,657
8
4
25
355
5,049,268
257
5,002,242
7
36,979
10,047
11
7
On 4 March, Health Minister Zainal Mustafa confirmed that three COVID-19 cases had been detected among flood victims in the state of Johor and quarantined in hospitals.
On 20 March, the Terrengganu Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (Maidam) eliminated facemask requirements for all mosque and surau attendees in the state.
On 29 March, Penang General Hospital infectious diseases unit head Datuk Dr Chow Ting Soo advised high-risk individuals including those with comorbidities to wear face masks to protect against various infectious diseases including the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
April
Date
Cases
Recoveries
Deaths
Current cases
Sources
New
Total
New
Total
New
Total
Active
ICU
Ventilators
1
599
5,052,337
375
5,004,043
1
36,982
11,312
13
9
8
726
5,056,911
584
5,006,634
16
36,994
13,283
10
4
15
881
5,062,060
760
5,010,543
4
37,000
14,517
14
10
22
562
5,066,877
881
5,015,705
11
37,011
14,161
16
12
29
1,050
5,071,840
600
5,020,529
9
37,020
14,291
29
22
By 6 April, 458 patients had been hospitalised, with 13 in intensive care and 9 on ventilator support.
On 11 April, Kedah state's Health and Local Government Committee chairman Datuk Dr Mohd Hayati Othman advised the public to wear masks in public spaces after COVID-19 cases increased by 141.4 percent (or 169 cases) during the first week of the month.
On 14 April, Melaka's State Health director Datuk Dr Rusdi Abd Rahman reported 226 cases at three boarding schools in the state.
On 17 April, in response to rising cases and social gatherings during the Hari Raya Puasa period, several public health experts including Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Prof Dr Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh, Universiti Malaya Professor Dr Moy Foong Ming, and Malaysian Public Health Physicians Association president Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar, and Universiti Putra Malaysia medical epidemiologist Assoc Prof Dr Malina Osman advocated various health measures including booster vaccines, mask wearing, and for positive cases to isolate at home.
On 25 April, Health Minister Zainal Mustafa confirmed that the SARS-CoV-2 XBB.1.16 (Arcturus) viral subvariant had arrived in Malaysia. 12 cases were reported; with six in Sarawak, four in Selangor and two in Kuala Lumpur.
On 28 April, Health Minister Zainal encouraged school students to wear face masks when returning to school the following week.
May
Date
Cases
Recoveries
Deaths
Current cases
Sources
New
Total
New
Total
New
Total
Active
ICU
Ventilators
6
1,110
5,079,436
1,112
5,025,566
0
37,028
16,842
41
24
13
1,205
5,088,009
1,248
5,029,873
18
37,046
21,090
36
25
20
786
5,094,448
1,272
5,038,256
3
37,070
19,122
34
25
27
782
5,100,249
779
5,044,652
1
37,087
18,510
30
24
In early May 2023, the Straits Times reported a fresh wave of cases in Malaysia during the second half of April. By 29 April, the number of hospitalisations had risen by 9.2% to 3,381; the death toll had risen by 25%; and the hospital occupancy rate had risen by 70.3%.
On 8 May, Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa announced that COVID-19 would no longer be considered a public health emergency, citing a recent decision by the World Health Organization's Emergency Committee of the International Health Regulations (2005) on 4 May.
On 16 May, Sabah's Tuaran district was placed back in the "red zone" after recording a spike of 26 cases in the previous week (7 to 13 May).
On 23 May, Sarawak's Deputy Premier Dr Sim Kui Hian announced that the COVID-19 pandemic in his state was declining, citing lower mortality figures in 2023 compared with last year. At the time, Sarawak had reported nine COVID-19 deaths in 2023, with a mortality rate of 0.31 per 100,000 people. In 2022, Sarawak had reported 167 COVID-19 deaths, with a mortality rate of 5.41 per 100,000 people.
June
Date
Cases
Recoveries
Deaths
Current cases
Sources
New
Total
New
Total
New
Total
Active
ICU
Ventilators
2
569
5,104,772
845
5,050,356
13
37,100
17,316
22
15
10
618
5,108,586
626
5,053,329
10
37,110
18,147
13
7
17
400
5,112,019
630
5,057,145
8
37,118
17,756
15
12
24
341
5,114,717
541
5,061,264
9
37,127
16,326
16
9
On 2 June, Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa confirmed that the Government would revise the COVID-19 Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) in mid-June following the World Health Organization's decision to no longer categorise the disease as a global health emergency.
By 8 June, the Malaysian Government had spent RM4.482 billion on vaccine procurement and logistics.
On 16 June, the Health Minister Dr Zaliha reported that the number of COVID-19 cases had decreased by 15.7% between 4 and 10 June; 3,814 cases compared with 4,523 cases reported in the previous week.
On 29 June, Dr Zaliha announced that the Malaysian Government was eliminating facemask requirements on public transportation and healthcare facilities, and reducing the quarantine period from seven to five days, effective 5 July. This announcement came in response to declining local cases and the World Health Organization declaring that COVID-19 was no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The Health Minister also extended the status of local "Infectious endemic area" from 30 June to 31 December 2023.
July
Date
Cases
Recoveries
Deaths
Current cases
Sources
New
Total
New
Total
New
Total
Active
ICU
Ventilators
1
171
5,116,265
333
5,064,159
2
37,152
14,954
11
8
8
139
5,117,487
167
5,066,437
6
37,158
13,892
9
4
15
173
5,118,689
141
5,067,662
2
37,160
13,867
4
4
22
129
5,119,647
189
5,068,858
3
37,163
13,626
20
5
29
130
5,120,581
115
5,069,820
1
37,164
13,597
2
0
On 1 July, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia family medicine specialist Assoc Prof Dr Mohd Radzniwan Abd Rashid and Universiti Putra Malaysia public health practitioner Assoc Prof Dr Malina Osman welcomed the Government's decision to revise its standard operation procedures, citing the World Health Organization's decision to declare that COVID-19 was no longer a global health emergency.
On 7 July, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia public health specialist Prof Dr Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh advocated mask-wearing as a means of preventing COVID-19 and other respiratory infections.
The number of COVID-19 cases dropped by 20 per cent during the week between 16 and 22 July to 958 cases compared to 1,202 cases between 9 and 15 July.
Malaysia reported 2,305 cases between 12 and 18 November, a 28% increase from the previous week. These included 28 new Omicron variant cases.
December
Date
Cases
Recoveries
Deaths
Current cases
Sources
New
Total
New
Total
New
Total
Active
ICU
Ventilators
2
1,126
5,147,359
610
5,094,830
0
37,202
15,327
8
5
9
2,554
5,160,116
1,164
5,102,881
16
37,218
20,017
21
13
16
3,389
5,180,812
2,276
5,115,191
28
37,246
28,375
22
14
23
3,499
5,206,724
3,376
5,136,171
22
37,268
33,285
44
22
30
2,803
5,227,322
3,488
5,162,135
5
37,293
27,894
58
34
In response to a rise of COVID-19 cases, retirement homes and the Kedah Immigration Department reinstated face mask requirements. In addition, mask wearing was encouraged in mosques, suraus, retailers, eateries, and kindergartens. On 20 December, the Health Ministry also encouraged people to take the COVID-19 vaccines, publishing a list of 234 vaccination centres on the MySejahtera app.
On 21 December, Malaysia reactivated its Heightened Alert System in response to a surge in COVID-19 cases domestically and in the wider Southeast Asia region. That same day, Johor state reported a 20-fold increase in COVID-19 cases. The Sarawak government also approved RM 4.85 million to help the Health Department cope with rising COVID-19 cases.
On 27 December, the Government deployed health department officials and medical staff at flood evacuation centres in Terengganu to screen people for COVID-19.
On 28 December, Kedah health authorities confirmed that the situation was under control at two COVID-19 clusters in Kuala Muda and Kota Setar.
On 29 December, the Health Ministry stated that COVID-19 cases in Malaysia were under control, with only 0.5% of patients admitted to hospital and a death rate of 0.08%.
On 30 December, 14 new COVID-19 cases were reported at flood evacuation centres in Kelantan and Terengganu.