Interstate and inter-district travels during Ramadan and the subsequent Hari Raya festive period are the reasons behind the spike in Covid-19 cases.
Malaysia has surpassed the 7,000-mark in Covid-19 cases, hitting an all-time high of 7,289 infections as of noon today.
Selangor continues to dominate with 2,642 cases, followed by Johor with 664, Kuala Lumpur (604) and Sarawak (513).
The Health Ministry said Kelantan and Negri Sembilan reported 425 and 410 cases respectively, while Penang logged 380 cases, and Kedah with 336 cases.
Perlis is the only state to report single-digit infections with eight cases.
Director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham had previously warned that the daily cases could go up to 7,000 by the end of May or early June if people fail to comply with the prescribed standard operating procedure.
However, today’s figures have surpassed the projection made on May 8.
Malaysia also reported its second-highest number of Covid-19 fatalities in a single day after 60 people succumbed to the coronavirus in the past 24 hours.
This comes after a record-breaking 61 deaths were reported yesterday. The fatalities raise the death toll to 2,369.
The country also saw yet another record high number of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions with 726 patients currently under critical care, including 373 who needed ventilators.
A total of 373 patients require respiratory support while active cases climbed to 63,458 from yesterday’s 60,018.
Noor Hisham has urged the public to prepare for the worst in facing the current Covid-19 wave following an exponential trend indicated by the Covid-19 graph in the country.
“The rise in cases started from April 1 and could trigger a vertical surge. We need to prepare for the worst. Please help us by staying at home. Only together, we can break the chain of infection,” he said in his official Twitter account today.
Noor Hisham advised the public to stay at home and comply strictly with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) in case of an emergency or attendance at work.
Meanwhile, health minister Dr Adham Baba said that interstate and inter-district travels during Ramadan and the subsequent Hari Raya festive period are the reasons behind the spike in Covid-19 cases.
He added that 40 Covid-19 clusters related to religious activities had been reported in the past week alone, with 19 detected in Johor, 13 in Selangor and the remaining eight scattered between Melaka, Negeri Sembilan and Kelantan.
“These religious activity clusters happened throughout the fasting month until Raya, and the increase in these clusters depended on the movement and mobility of the public.
“If we can reduce our mobility, then we can lower the infectivity rate, reduce transmissions and curb Covid-19,” he said in a press conference today.
Adham also expressed concern over the rise in deaths in recent weeks, with a record-high 61 deaths reported yesterday.
Earlier, Bernama reported that balik kampung trips to Terengganu by 35 individuals from Covid-19 red zones during the recent Hari Raya celebration led to 90 new cases in the state.