IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i7p3828-d777933.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

COVID-19 in Malaysia: Descriptive Epidemiologic Characteristics of the First Wave

Author

Listed:
  • Sumarni Mohd Ghazali

    (Institute for Medical Research, Ministry of Health, Shah Alam 40170, Malaysia)

  • Sarbhan Singh

    (Institute for Medical Research, Ministry of Health, Shah Alam 40170, Malaysia)

  • Asrul Anuar Zulkifli

    (Institute for Medical Research, Ministry of Health, Shah Alam 40170, Malaysia)

  • Yoon Ling Cheong

    (Institute for Medical Research, Ministry of Health, Shah Alam 40170, Malaysia)

  • Nuur Hafizah Md Iderus

    (Institute for Medical Research, Ministry of Health, Shah Alam 40170, Malaysia)

  • Ahmed Syahmi Syafiq Md Zamri

    (Institute for Medical Research, Ministry of Health, Shah Alam 40170, Malaysia)

  • Nadhar Ahmad Jaafar

    (Institute for Medical Research, Ministry of Health, Shah Alam 40170, Malaysia)

  • Chee Herng Lai

    (Institute for Medical Research, Ministry of Health, Shah Alam 40170, Malaysia)

  • Wan Noraini Wan Mohamed Noor

    (Ministry of Health, Putrajaya 62590, Malaysia)

  • Norhayati Rusli

    (Ministry of Health, Putrajaya 62590, Malaysia)

  • Chee Kheong Chong

    (Ministry of Health, Putrajaya 62590, Malaysia)

  • Tahir Aris

    (Institute for Medical Research, Ministry of Health, Shah Alam 40170, Malaysia)

  • Hishamshah Mohd Ibrahim

    (Ministry of Health, Putrajaya 62590, Malaysia)

  • Sarat Chandra Dass

    (School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Putrajaya 62200, Malaysia)

  • Balvinder Singh Gill

    (Institute for Medical Research, Ministry of Health, Shah Alam 40170, Malaysia)

Abstract

This study aimed to describe the characteristics of COVID-19 cases and close contacts during the first wave of COVID-19 in Malaysia (23 January 2020 to 26 February 2020), and to analyse the reasons why the outbreak did not continue to spread and lessons that can be learnt from this experience. Characteristics of the cases and close contacts, spatial spread, epidemiological link, and timeline of the cases were examined. An extended SEIR model was developed using several parameters such as the average number of contacts per day per case, the proportion of close contact traced per day and the mean daily rate at which infectious cases are isolated to determine the basic reproduction number (R 0 ) and trajectory of cases. During the first wave, a total of 22 cases with 368 close contacts were traced, identified, tested, quarantine and isolated. Due to the effective and robust outbreak control measures put in place such as early case detection, active screening, extensive contact tracing, testing and prompt isolation/quarantine, the outbreak was successfully contained and controlled. The SEIR model estimated the R 0 at 0.9 which further supports the decreasing disease dynamics and early termination of the outbreak. As a result, there was a 11-day gap (free of cases) between the first and second wave which indicates that the first wave was not linked to the second wave.

Suggested Citation

  • Sumarni Mohd Ghazali & Sarbhan Singh & Asrul Anuar Zulkifli & Yoon Ling Cheong & Nuur Hafizah Md Iderus & Ahmed Syahmi Syafiq Md Zamri & Nadhar Ahmad Jaafar & Chee Herng Lai & Wan Noraini Wan Mohamed , 2022. "COVID-19 in Malaysia: Descriptive Epidemiologic Characteristics of the First Wave," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-14, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:7:p:3828-:d:777933
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/7/3828/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/7/3828/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Varvara A. Mouchtouri & Eleni P. Christoforidou & Maria an der Heiden & Cinthia Menel Lemos & Margherita Fanos & Ute Rexroth & Ulrike Grote & Evelien Belfroid & Corien Swaan & Christos Hadjichristodou, 2019. "Exit and Entry Screening Practices for Infectious Diseases among Travelers at Points of Entry: Looking for Evidence on Public Health Impact," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-53, November.
    2. Balvinder Singh Gill & Vivek Jason Jayaraj & Sarbhan Singh & Sumarni Mohd Ghazali & Yoon Ling Cheong & Nuur Hafizah Md Iderus & Bala Murali Sundram & Tahir Bin Aris & Hishamshah Mohd Ibrahim & Boon Ha, 2020. "Modelling the Effectiveness of Epidemic Control Measures in Preventing the Transmission of COVID-19 in Malaysia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-13, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Panayotis Christidis & Aris Christodoulou, 2020. "The Predictive Capacity of Air Travel Patterns during the Global Spread of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Risk, Uncertainty and Randomness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-15, May.
    2. Jeadran Malagón-Rojas & Eliana L. Parra B & Marcela Mercado, 2020. "Infection and Risk Perception of SARS-CoV-2 among Airport Workers: A Mixed Methods Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Kadijatu Nabie Kamara & James Sylvester Squire & Joseph Sam Kanu & Ronald Carshon-Marsh & Zikan Koroma & Aminata Tigiedankay Koroma & Anna Maruta & Christiana Kallon & Marcel Manzi & Bienvenu Salim Ca, 2022. "Assessment of Infection Prevention and Control Measures at Points of Entry in Sierra Leone in 2021: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-11, May.
    4. Kurubaran Ganasegeran & Mohd Fadzly Amar Jamil & Maheshwara Rao Appannan & Alan Swee Hock Ch’ng & Irene Looi & Kalaiarasu M. Peariasamy, 2022. "Spatial Dynamics and Multiscale Regression Modelling of Population Level Indicators for COVID-19 Spread in Malaysia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-13, February.
    5. Mahmoud Al-shami & Rawad Abdulghafor & Abdulaziz Aborujilah & Abubakar Yagoub & Sherzod Turaev & Mohammed A. H. Ali, 2023. "COVID-19 Tracking Applications Acceptance among General Populace: An Overview in Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-13, February.
    6. Kamarul Imran Musa & Wan Nor Arifin & Mohd Hafiz Mohd & Mohammad Subhi Jamiluddin & Noor Atinah Ahmad & Xin Wee Chen & Tengku Muhammad Hanis & Awang Bulgiba, 2021. "Measuring Time-Varying Effective Reproduction Numbers for COVID-19 and Their Relationship with Movement Control Order in Malaysia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-13, March.
    7. Muhammad Iqbal Haji Mukhti & Mohd Ismail Ibrahim & Tengku Alina Tengku Ismail & Iliatha Papachristou Nadal & Sureshkumar Kamalakannan & Sanjay Kinra & Kamarul Imran Musa, 2022. "Family Caregivers’ Experiences and Coping Strategies in Managing Stroke Patients during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Exploration Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-20, January.
    8. Yea Lu Tay & Zalilah Abdullah & Kalvina Chelladorai & Lee Lan Low & Seng Fah Tong, 2021. "Perception of the Movement Control Order during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study in Malaysia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-13, August.
    9. Zhuang Wu & Yuanyuan Wang & Jing Gao & Jiayang Song & Yi Zhang, 2022. "A Multistage Time-Delay Control Model for COVID-19 Transmission," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-23, November.
    10. Ziyuan Liu & Zhi Li & Weiming Chen & Yunpu Zhao & Hanxun Yue & Zhenzhen Wu, 2020. "Path Optimization of Medical Waste Transport Routes in the Emergent Public Health Event of COVID-19: A Hybrid Optimization Algorithm Based on the Immune–Ant Colony Algorithm," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-18, August.
    11. Yan Hong & Gangwei Cai & Zhoujin Mo & Weijun Gao & Lei Xu & Yuanxing Jiang & Jinming Jiang, 2020. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Tourist Satisfaction with B&B in Zhejiang, China: An Importance–Performance Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-19, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:7:p:3828-:d:777933. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.