Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding COVID-19 and its transmission, causes and prevention among people living in Malaysia.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among people living in Malaysia by using an online survey in March and April 2020.
Results: Out of 520 respondents, the mean age was 36.9 ± 14.9, between 19 and 67 years with the majority being female. Most respondents had good knowledge, attitude and practice towards COVID-19 with mean ± sd 18.2 ± 1.7, 5.2 ± 1.1 and 4.1 ± 1.4, respectively. In addition, the majority had good knowledge regarding cause, mode of transmission, signs and symptoms, prevention and treatment and quarantine measures after answering 21 questions.
Conclusion: To date, there is no specific treatment or vaccine for COVID-19, thus staying at home is the best preventive measure to curb the further growth of positive cases in the country. These findings could provide an insight in designing effective preparedness for future pandemic outbreaks.
Subjects and methods: This short communication reviews articles and government announcements related to containment measures and the Movement Control Order of Malaysia, and graphically presents data pertinent to Covid-19 in Malaysia in order to show the relationship between fluctuations in Covid-19 cases and movement control.
Results: At the onset of the Covid-19 outbreak, Malaysia had initiated travel restrictions and quarantine; but with a persistent increase in new Covid-19 cases, the Movement Control Order was finally rolled out on 18 March 2020, requiring closure of all businesses except those providing essential services and items. Enforcement of the order was tightened progressively, resulting in significant improvement of compliance, while other interventions such as tracking of potential contacts and medical screening were underway, and the media continued to provide updates and general advices. The numbers of new and active Covid-19 cases started showing evident downtrends from mid-April, thus indicating the effectiveness of movement control and its compliance.
Conclusion: The article provides insight into crucial factors contributing to the success of movement control to effectively contain Covid-19, and highlights the need to prevent future upsurge through continuous monitoring and enforcement.
OBJECTIVE: Drawing from the theory of conservation of resources (COR), our study aims to examine possible factors that influence turnover intention among hotel employees.
METHODS: The hypotheses were tested on 141 hotel employees from Klang Valley, Malaysia. Data were collected by means of questionnaires, purposive sampling was employed, and PLS-SEM was used in performing the data analyses.
RESULTS: Job insecurity and psychological distress were found to be the potent antecedent of turnover intention. In contrast, the role of perceived supervisor support did not significantly moderate the effects of both job insecurity and psychological distress on the quitting intention.
CONCLUSION: Re-looking at existing policies and leadership styles may be fruitful in ensuring the sustainability path of an organization. This is pivotal in growing back the entire hospitality industry that has gravely affected by COVID-19.
METHODS: All laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases reported to the Petaling District Health Office between 1 February and 26 June 2020 were analysed. Socio-demographic characteristics, symptoms, date of onset, date of exposure, travel history and history of comorbidities were obtained by phone interviews using one of two investigation forms. The descriptive analysis was conducted according to time, place and person.
RESULTS: There were 437 COVID-19 cases, for an incidence rate of 24/100 000 population. Ten (2.3%) deaths and 427 recovered cases were recorded. Of the 437 cases, 35.5% remained asymptomatic and 64.5% were symptomatic. Common symptoms included fever (43.8%), cough (31.6%) and sore throat (16.2%); 67.3% had no comorbidities, 62.5% reported close contact with a confirmed case, and 76.7% were local infections. Transmission occurred in four main groups: religious gatherings (20.4%), corporations (15.1%), health facilities (10.3%) and a wholesale wet market (6.4%). In 31.9% of confirmed cases, an epidemiological link to an asymptomatic case was found.
CONCLUSION: Transmission of the disease by asymptomatic cases should be emphasized to ensure continuous wearing of face masks, hand hygiene and social distancing. Further research should be conducted to better understand the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from asymptomatic cases.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study collected publicly available data on COVID-19 clusters occurring in Malaysia from 1 March 2020 to 31 May 2021. The characteristics of cases were described by category, and their associations with several outcomes were analysed. Descriptive analyses were performed to explore the method used to detect the index case and the mode of early transmission, according to cluster category.
RESULTS: A total of 2188 clusters were identified. The workplace cluster category had the largest proportion of clusters (51.5%, 1126/2188 clusters), while the custodial settings category had the largest median cluster size (178 cases per cluster) and longest median duration of cluster (51 days). The high-risk groups category had the highest mortality. There were significant differences in cluster size, duration and rate of detection across the categories. Targeted screening was most commonly used to detect index cases, especially in custodial settings, and in imported and workplace clusters. Household-social and social-workplace contacts were the most common modes of early transmission across most categories.
DISCUSSION: Targeted screening might effectively reduce the size and duration of COVID-19 clusters. Measures to prevent and control COVID-19 outbreaks should be continually adjusted based on ongoing assessments of the unique context of each cluster.
METHODS: A total of 1917 samples with adequate volume for RT-PCR analysis were collected from patients hospitalised with HFMD throughout Vietnam and 637 were positive for EV71. VP1 gene (n=87) and complete genome (n=9) sequencing was performed. Maximum-likelihood phylogenetic analysis was performed to characterise the B5, C4 and C5 strains detected.
RESULTS: Sequence analyses revealed that the dominant subgenogroup associated with the 2012 outbreak was C4, with B5 and C5 strains representing a small proportion of these cases.
CONCLUSIONS: Numerous countries in the region including Malaysia, Taiwan and China have a large influence on strain diversity in Vietnam and understanding the transmission of EV71 throughout Southeast Asia is vital to inform preventative public health measures and vaccine development efforts.