Those in the 26-30 age group could be Malaysian students or others who have returned from abroad and those in the 56-60 age group could be the heads of households who have to leave home often to buy essential goods. Bernama Photo
PUTRAJAYA: During the first two weeks of the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) beginning March 18, the daily trend has shown an increase, and occasionally sideways, in new cases recorded.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that during the same period the number of daily discharged cases had also increased.
During the first week of the MCO (March 18-25), the daily new cases were between 117 and 212 cases, while in the second week (March 21-31) showed the highest number of new cases recorded at 235 and the lowest was at 130 cases.
“This data shows the impact of the activities conducted by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and various agencies in the last one month (including during the MCO period).
“The next two weeks (the second phase of the MCO) is crucial as it will indicate whether steps that were taken by the government so far have the desired impact,” he told a daily Covid-19 development news conference here yesterday.
The first phase of the MCO began on March 18 and ended at 11.59 last night to indicate the beginning of the phase two that will end on April 14, in an effort to break the chain of Covid-19 infection in Malaysia.
The government has also enforced an enhanced MCO (EMCO) in several areas in two states namely in Johor which involves Kampung Dato’ Ibrahim Majid and Bandar Baharu Dato’ Ibrahim Majid, and in Selangor – Batu 21 to Batu 24 in Sungai Lui, Hulu Langat – effective from March 27 to April 9, and March 30 to April 13, respectively.
On phase two of the MCO, Dr Noor Hisham said cooperation from all parties is crucial to ensure the objective of the MCO is achieved.
“Therefore, MOH is advising everybody to stay at home … stay at home while adopting good personal hygiene and practising social distancing and wearing face mask if you have symptoms,” he said, adding that people should also maintain a healthy diet and exercise at home.
Dr Hisham also advised smokers to use this opportunity to quit the habit.
He pointed out the need to nurture a positive mind among family members to keep calm and relax while riding out the MCO.
“For health-related advice, people can call virtual health advisory from 8.30am to 5pm daily as well as to follow MOH’s Facebook Live from 10am to 10.30am and DoctorOnCall from 3pm to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday,” he said. — Bernama