CORONAVIRUS | The Health Ministry will provide data on April 10 to help the government decide whether there is a need to extend the movement control order (MCO) period beyond April 15.

The decision will be made based on the number of new Covid-19 cases Malaysia continues to register daily, said health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

“The data will need to tell us whether we need to extend or not [...]

“The reality is that we have to base it on science and facts.

“We hope that by April 10, the data will be available for us to make a decision on whether we need to extend it or not,” he said at the ministry’s daily press conference in Putrajaya this evening.

It will be for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to announce if there is an extension.

Since March 18 when the MCO began, Covid-19 cases have been increasing between 106 to 235 a day.

The past two days (April 2 and 3) saw new infections surpass 200 cases but this was due to ramped-up case-detection measures in areas under an enhanced MCO.

As of noon today, Malaysia registered 150 new infections, bringing its total number of cases to 3,483.

Elaborating, Hisham reiterated the need for the public to continue adhering to MCO rules by staying at home and observing social distancing when there is a need to be outdoors.

“(It’s about) what we can do to change the figures that we have. We are monitoring (them) everyday.

“The responsibility is not only on our shoulders at the ministry but all of us need to play our part,” he said.

Hisham previously said that the ministry was prepared for a worst-case scenario projection where the virus would peak at 6,500 cases in mid-April.

The MCO, originally planned to be from March 18 to 31, was extended to the middle of this month after Covid-19 cases kept rising. 

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