Affiliations 

  • 1 Universiti Teknologi MARA(UiTM)
MyJurnal

Abstract

The pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought much fear and anxiety
worldwide due to the rapid transmission rate and mortality. The exponential surge of COVID19 cases need to be addressed aggressively to flatten the epidemic curve. This review aims to
describe the COVID-19 disease epidemiology and disease transmission, response actions
taken by the authorities to control this pandemic and risk communication strategies in Malaysia.
A literature search via the ScienceDirect and Google Scholar databases of published articles
and official statements from the Ministry of Health, Malaysia from December 2019 to May 2020
was conducted. The first wave of COVID-19 outbreak in Malaysia started in late January
involving 22 cases but the second wave involved more cases due to the massive religious
gathering that occurred in late February. Malaysia implemented the Movement Control Order
(MCO) on 18th March 2020 and other well-coordinated response action plans to prevent
community transmission. The reproduction number (R0) was successfully reduced from 3.6 to
0.3 due to the MCO. Malaysia’s risk communication strategies that include daily press
conference by the Director General of Health and dissemination of information through national
television and social media, played a crucial role in dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak. In
conclusion, effective response actions and mitigation plans, should be the main priorities to
combat this pandemic. The immediate direction will need to be focused on development of
vaccines for COVID-19. Future research should study the origin of the virus in animals and the
role of comorbidities contributing to poorer prognosis.