Third Wave of Covid-19 Pandemic: The Prevalence and Sociodemographic Characteristic Among Soldiers in 5th Infantry Division

Abstract

Introduction: As Malaysia entered the third wave of Covid-19, Sabah became the top state in Malaysia to have the most cumulative positive cases. This affected the readiness of the 5th Infantry Division. The objective of this research was to determine the prevalence of COVID-19 positive cases among the personnel from the 5th Infantry Division. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted on positive cases that involved army personnel from the 5th Infantry Division which totaled to 5243 personnel (313 officers and 4930 other ranks) from 13th September 2020 to 31st October 2020. Data was collected by Headquarters of the 5th Infantry Division (Medical Branch) using self-administered questionnaire to determine the rank, gender, age, confirmation test, smoking status, comorbidities, exposure details, places of isolation and symptoms prior to diagnosis. Data collected was analyzed by using Microsoft Excel. Results: In this study, the prevalence of COVID-19 among military personnel in 5th Infantry Division is 1.03% (n=54). 90.7% of positive cases affected the other ranks and 100% are male army personnel. 53.7% of positive cases were from the age group of 21-30 years old, 53.7% from 13th Infantry Brigade and 79.6% cases were confirmed by using RT-PCR. Among the positive cases, 79.6% are smoker, 96.3% has no comorbidities, 57.4% were positive after close contact with positive cases, 53.7% were managed in isolation centers in camp and 53.7% were symptomatic prior to diagnosis of COVID-19.Conclusion: Although the prevalence of this study was relatively low, constant case monitoring, swift contact tracing with investigations and surveillance order was important to ensure that the operational readiness of the 5th Infantry Division was not affected. Joint effort to curb the spread of COVID-19 ensured that the infection was under control at all time.