The signs are that the Omicron wave of the Covid-19 pandemic will not be as severe in Malaysia as in UK or USA where the daily peak of new Omicron cases is about thrice that of the Delta peak, or in South Korea where it is 20 times higher or in Hong Kong where it is 60 times higher than the Delta daily peak

There are signs that the Omicron wave of the Covid-19 pandemic will not be as severe in Malaysia as in the United Kingdom or the USA, where the daily peak of new Omicron cases is about thrice that of the Delta peak, or in Hong Kong where it is 20 times higher or in South Korea where it is 60 times higher than the Delta daily peak.

The best performing state in the Omicron wave so far is India, which reached a daily peak of 347,254 new Omicron Covid-19 cases on 20th January 2022, which is lower than the daily peak in the Delta wave of 414,433 new Covid-19 cases on 6th May 2021.

Yesterday, the daily new Covid-19 cases have come down to the four-digit figure of 7,985 cases – less than one third that of Malaysia, which recorded 24,466 new cases yesterday, which is less than the Delta daily peak of 24,599 new Covid-19 cases on 26th August 2021.

The Omicron daily peak in Malaysia is higher than the Delta daily peak – as there were 32,090 new Covid-19 cases on 24th February 2022, which is about 30 per cent higher than the Delta daily peak of 24,599 new cases on 26th August 2021.

For the last three days, there has been a drop in new Covid-19 cases to 24,466 cases yesterday.

If this trend holds, Malaysia will do better than the Philippines in the ASEAN region, where after an explosive surge of new Omicron wave, reachedf a new daily peak of 38,867 new cases on 15th January 2022 as compared to the Delta daily peak of 26,208 new Covid-19 cases on 11th September 2021 – or about one-and-a-half times that of the Delta daily peak. It has come down to the low four-digit figure of 1,038 new Covid-19 cases yesterday.

Singapore is having an explosive Omicron wave and some medical experts expect the Omicron daily peak could reach 40,000 new cases a day. At present, the daily peak for Omicron wave is 26,032 new cases on 22nd February 2022, which is about five times its Delta daily peak of 5,324 new Covid-19 cases on 27th October 2021.

Indonesia reached a Delta daily peak of 56,757 new Covid-19 cases on 15th July 2021, but under Omicron wave, it has reached a peak of 64,716 new cases on 16th February 2022. It recorded 34,976 new Covid-19 cases yesterday.

Malaysians must keep their fingers crossed that Malaysia will be the best performing nation in the Omicron wave.

The Omicron wave has to be monitored closely, as the mortality rate where there are 327 Covid-19 deaths in the past week are unacceptably high.