CORONAVIRUS | 69 new Covid-19 cases and one fatality have been reported today.

This is the 17th day that the number of new cases in Malaysia has remained in double-digit.

Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said as of noon today, 69 new cases have been reported, bringing the total to 6,071.

The number of patients who recovered and discharged is at 39.

The number of active cases stands at 1,758.

To date, 37 positive cases of Covid-19 are being treated at an intensive care unit (ICU). Of these, 14 cases required respiratory aid.

According to Noor Hisham, 12 of the new cases were imported while 57 were locally transmitted.

The one new fatality reported raised the death toll to 103.

Noor Hisham said that the 103rd fatality (Patient 5,441) is a local man aged 66 with a history of cancer.

He has come into close contact with patient 4,818. He was hospitalised at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital on April 14 and passed away on April 30, 2020, at 4pm.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced that from May 4 onwards a conditional movement control order (MCO) would take effect, with some conditions being relaxed.

The MCO was first put in place on March 18 to combat the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak.

According to statistics released by the Health Ministry today, there have been 3,251,925 Covid-19 cases around the world with 233,014 deaths, with the United States having suffered nearly 63,000 fatalities.

Labour Day greetings

Noor Hisham also took the opportunity to wish everyone a happy Labour Day on behalf of the Ministry of Health.

"In particular all medical personnel and health workers especially those from the frontline (frontliners), whether they are government staff, private sector, volunteers and also from NGOs," he said.

He also thanked the behind the scenes officers who provided the backbone and foundation to operations and played a very important role to ensure readiness and smooth response in the field.

Strict compliance with SOP necessary

Noor Hisham said that in light of the announcement of the conditional MCO, it was absolutely essential that Malaysians adhered to established standard operating procedures (SOPs).

"The Health Ministry welcomes the announcement of the prime minister while emphasising on compliance with the established SOPs, which include:

• The practice of safe social distancing of at least one metre

• The washing of hands frequently with water and soap, or the use of hand sanitisers

• The use of face masks

• Health screening at the entrance of buildings

• Protecting high-risk groups such as children, babies, seniors and the disabled;

• Immediate health screening for unhealthy and symptomatic individuals

• Limiting the number of passengers in public transport, taking into account social distancing

• Encouraging online transactions, and

• Immediately reporting any information pertaining to Covid-19 infections to the Department of Health

He reminded the public that the prime minister had also emphasised that activities involving large groups that could expose the public to infection are still not allowed.

The full list of businesses and activities not permitted to restart on May 4 can be found here.

The SOPs set by the NSC for businesses reopening is available here

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