PETALING JAYA, Jan 25 (Sin Chew Daily) – According to the global COVID-19 prediction system developed by the team led by Zhong Nanshan, director of China's National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, the cumulative total of positive COVID-19 cases in Malaysia will approach the 600,000-mark two months from now, meaning a daily increase of almost 7,000 new cases.

The system shows that Malaysia will see an average daily increase of 4,279 new COVID-19 cases for the 19 days from now until February 12, the first day of Chinese New Year, taking the cumulative total to 269,123 (max 324,434).

On February 26 (Chap Goh Meh), we will see an anticipated total of 356,030 cases (max 429,213), meaning an average daily increase of 5,793 during the 14-day festive period.

The total number of confirmed cases could reach 598,735 by March 24 (min 475,639 max 721,832). This means an average daily increase of 6,964 new cases from today until then.

The system has also predicted daily new increases in excess of 10,000 cases from March 16.