Health experts have agreed with health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah’s proposal for an imminent targeted movement control order (MCO) in areas with high numbers of Covid-19 infections.

Like the top official, they say the strategy will help bring daily new case numbers down to a more manageable level.

However, the experts have also implored the government to widen data-driven targeted testing and ban social gatherings so that the lockdown and its subsequent economic carnage can be as limited as possible.

Malaysia hit a record high of 3,027 daily new infections on Thursday with Johor and the Klang Valley (Selangor and Kuala Lumpur) accounting for a bulk of the cases. Active cases now total 25,742 nationwide.

New cases dipped below 3,000 yesterday but the past 24 hours saw a record 16 deaths, nine of them in Selangor.