THE Health Ministry studied all factors before advising the government on the conditional loosening of the movement-control order (MCO) starting May 4.

Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said it was a collective decision, and the ministry will continue to advise Putrajaya on the matter.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin this morning announced the relaxing of restrictions, which will allow almost all businesses to reopen on Monday.

“A few weeks ago, there was a peak in cases and we were concerned,” Dr Noor Hisham told a daily press conference on Covid-19 in Putrajaya.

“We were not sure if there would be another surge, so we asked for a delay in (lifting the MCO).

“Now, it is clear that we are in a recovery phase. Hopefully, we will continue to improve the situation.”

He said there is a need to strike the right balance between life and livelihood.

“We have done three phases of the MCO, and it has helped us flatten the (Covid-19) curve. The objective of the MCO is to flatten the curve, and we have achieved that.”

He said the ministry and other agencies have taken action to ensure at-risk groups are protected.

“We saw that on April 14, we managed to flatten the curve and bring it under control.

“We managed to stop cases from rapidly increasing.

“And, we have announced the conditional MCO to revive the economy. People will have to follow the standard operating procedure.”

Of the 69 new Covid-19 cases reported today, 57 involved locals. This brings Malaysia’s total infections to 6,071.

Dr Noor Hisham said another 39 patients were discharged from hospital in the last 24 hours.

He said a 66-year-old coronavirus patient, who had cancer, died yesterday, taking the country’s fatalities to 103. – May 1, 2020.