KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): The Health Ministry (MOH) expects the country&rsquo s daily Covid-19 cases to stabilise and show a decline in the next one to two weeks&rsquo time, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said that the vaccination drive nationwide and public health controls such as the current movement control could flatten the curve of the pandemic again.

He said the spike in new cases over the last few days was due to more targeted screenings being implemented, especially in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, which are currently under the enhanced movement control order.

" The MOH had expected that with the lockdown in the Klang Valley areas, the daily cases will increase due to the implementation of the targeted and community screenings.

" However, I am confident that with better movement control methods, we will see a more stable total number of cases as well as a drop within a week or two. At the same time, the vaccination process must be expedited,&rdquo he said.

He said this when appearing as a guest on the Bernama TV programme &lsquo The Nation&rsquo , entitled " Covid-19: Apa Lagi Ikhtiar Kita&rdquo (Covid-19: Measures To Be Taken), hosted by Bernama chairman Datuk Ras Adiba Radzi here, Saturday (July 10) night.

Dr Noor Hisham also said that from the experience and lessons learned from the second wave of Covid-19 previously, the country would need to be more cautious and not rush to open several sectors that could trigger a surge in new cases.

He said continued compliance by all parties as well as the enforcement of the standard operating procedure (SOP) in the field, such as the manufacturing sector, needed to be enhanced in an effort to control more infections, especially those involving workplace transmissions.

In explaining the capacity situation at several hospitals, which were reported to be overcrowded with Covid-19 patients, he said the MOH was actively increasing the hospitals&rsquo capacities to accommodate patients, especially those under Category Four and Category Five, in the intensive care units (ICUs).

" The problem we face is that the Category Four and Category Five patients take a long time to be treated in the ICU, between two to five weeks, including requiring ventilators.

" These are the constraints we face because the number of patients in Category Four and Category Five is also increasing. That&rsquo s why the MOH is doing its best to increase the hospitals&rsquo capacity,&rdquo he said.

There are five categories of the Covid-19 disease. Category One - asymptomatic Category Two - mild disease Category Three - moderate disease (pneumonia, not requiring oxygen) Category Four - severe disease (pneumonia and requiring oxygen) and Category Five - critical disease (multiple organ impairment, possibly requiring assisted ventilation).

July 10 saw Malaysia hit another record high of 9,353 new cases, with 29 new clusters, including 19 linked to workplaces. - Bernama

  Glovemakers&rsquo facilities in Malaysia

Singapore

ONCE lauded as pandemic darlings, glove manufacturers are in for a rough time ahead as they are forced to shutter factories in certain parts of Malaysia in line with an extended movement control order (EMCO).

Starting July 3, Malaysia imposed stricter movement curbs across 34 sub-districts in Selangor and 14 localities in Kuala Lumpur in a bid to curb the rising number of Covid-19 cases.

Glove manufacturers were previously classified as " essential services" - which allowed them to remain open during previous MCOs. The latest EMCO measures, however, have been a surprise as they do not allow glove factories to operate.

As a result, share prices of Malaysia-listed glove makers have come under pressure. Since the announcement of the EMCO on July 1, Kossan has lost 4 per cent and Hartalega has shed 3.3 per cent. Top Glove, which is dual-listed on the Singapore and Malaysia bourses, has fallen 8.1 per cent on the Singapore Exchange and 8.4 per cent on Bursa Malaysia 

The trio are likely to see their production capacities slashed. Maybank Kim Eng analyst Wong Wei Sum in a July 7 report said the latest suspension of glove factories in Selangor is expected to affect about 55 per cent of Top Glove' s production capacity, and all the production capacities of Hartalega and Kossan.

In a statement, Top Glove said it has suspended operations in the Selangor state of Malaysia in the wake of the EMCO. The group said it is awaiting clarifications from Malaysia' s National Security Council.

When queried by The Business Times, Top Glove declined to provide the exact number of factories that were affected by the latest EMCO restrictions.

Top Glove' s smaller peer Hartalega said its two factory locations in Selangor - in Bestari Jaya and Sepang - have been victims of a " full shutdown" .

As these two facilities produce all of Hartalega' s gloves, the company has sounded warnings of a " significant impact" to glove supply for both local and international healthcare value chains.

" Should the EMCO period be prolonged (to) after July 16, there will certainly be grave impact to the global supply of nitrile gloves, given that Hartalega is the world' s largest exporter of nitrile gloves," the company added in a statement.

Kossan Rubber Industries, which has factories in Selangor, said all production capacity in areas under the EMCO has been temporarily halted. As a result, the company is expecting 4 per cent of its annual production output to be affected by the EMCO.

Other Malaysian glove makers that could suffer similar setbacks include Supermax Corp, which has a manufacturing facility in Klang and the glove arm of property player Mah Sing Group, which has a manufacturing factory in Klang.

The two other Singapore-listed glove plays Riverstone Holdings and UG Healthcare, however, should be more insulated.

UGHealthcare has two manufacturing plants in Seremban, which are not affected by EMCO measures. Riverstone has more than 90 per cent of its dipping lines located mostly in Taiping, Perak, said CGS-CIMB analyst Ong Khang Chuen.

" Riverstone' s operations in Selangor are mostly for cleanroom processing, hence the cleanroom glove segment might be impacted slightly more than its healthcare glove segment during the EMCO period," added Mr Ong.

However, Riverstone on June 6 said it would temporarily close its manufacturing facilities in Perak after positive virus cases were detected among the factory workers there. Coupled with a limit on workforce capacity of 60 per cent, the group is expecting a capacity loss of some 200 million pieces of gloves or 2 per cent of its total annual production capacity.

When approached by BT for comment, Riverstone declined to do so and said the situation " remains fluid" .

The various shutdowns could hurt Malaysian glove makers in the longer term, said CGS-CIMB analyst Walter Aw, as global glove buyers find themselves with no alternative but to turn to producers in other countries such as Thailand, India and Vietnam.

" Assuming that the EMCO period is not extended beyond its July 16 expiry date, we believe the glove sector' s revenue will decline by 2.1 per cent," said Mr Aw.

But United First' s head of research for Asia Justin Tang does not see a " drastic impact" on glove supply globally.

" There will definitely be an impact on production, but it will probably not be as severe as what we saw last year given that countries around the world are getting their populations vaccinated," said Mr Tang.

He added that countries could have " stockpiled" personal protective equipment last year, which would result in reduced demand this year.

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July 08, 2021 17:07 pm +08