KUALA LUMPUR – The Health Ministry has projected some 13,000 Covid-19 cases a day by June 14 if a full lockdown is not implemented.
Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this is why the authorities need to impose a movement control order (MCO) similar to the first one last year.
“This is to ensure there is no movement or gathering (during this period),” he said during a joint press conference with Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today.
Dr Noor Hisham said the spread of the virus is showing an uptrend, with the latest R-naught, or infectivity rate, at 1.16.
The ministry’s predicted increment of around 1,000 to 2,000 cases per day is “not impossible”, he added.
He said the record-high 98 Covid-19 deaths yesterday can continue if stricter measures are not implemented.
However, he said the projection on Phase 1 of the total lockdown will be obtained only seven days after its implementation.
The ministry needs to compile the average data of the period between June 1 and 7 to obtain the latest projection, he added.
Dr Noor Hisham said the ministry’s current strategy involves five aspects.
“If MCO 3.0 is well-implemented, it will give us two weeks or more towards the restoration of hospitals, and give time for medical workers to rest and look into their equipment needs, and so on.
“Secondly, it will help civil servants carry out their duties. Although we are under MCO 3.0, we will still carry out targeted screenings with RTK-Antigen tests in the field.”
State governments, elected representatives and local authorities can assist in screening efforts, he added.
Thirdly, he said, the ministry will be working to trace and detect Covid-19 cases to isolate those infected and provide them with treatment.
“We will also raise the level of border control. To date, the efforts on border control are very good as the detected cases are in the single digits.
“However, we are concerned about the new (Covid-19) variants that have been detected in the region.”
According to Dr Noor Hisham, currently there are four variants of concern in Malaysia – from Brazil, India, South Africa and the United Kingdom (UK)
He also warned of a new variant detected in Vietnam that is a hybrid of the Indian and UK variant.
“This could result in higher (number of Covid-19) cases, faster spread (of the virus), and more deaths.”
Fourthly, he said, the ministry is looking to ramp up vaccinations in the country, and expects some 10 million vaccine doses to be available by the end of next month.
“Furthermore, we are now practising the standard operating procedure of staying home. We have to use the public health strategy and vaccination strategy.
“God-willing, with both these strategies, we will be able to reduce the number of cases in the next three or four months.” – The Vibes, May 30, 2021
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