THE Health Ministry aims to see the number of active Covid-19 infections reduced to 1,000 in the third phase of the movement control order (MCO), said director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

There are currently 2,198 active cases, after accounting for deaths and recoveries. The ministry’s projection of 2,033 active cases on April 14 is slightly off the mark, he added.

“We are off our target by about 150 cases but 2,198 is still far lower than the 4,000 active cases we had earlier,” he said today during a daily briefing in Putrajaya.

“If we continue doing what we did in MCO 1 and 2 – which is to restrict movement and enforce social distancing – we can bring that down.

“It will be easier to control if we can bring down the number of active cases to 1,000 or 500.”

The MCO entered the third phase on April 15 and will expire on April 28.

At lower numbers, Dr Noor Hisham said the ministry would be able to focus on specific areas or high risk groups.

If the active infections could be cut off from the wider community, there would be no new cases, he said.

“A lower number of active cases also means less likelihood of more infections in the community, particularly, if we can tighten border controls.”

The number of active cases is a factor in deciding whether to end or extend the MCO, said Noor Hisham.

“It is also lower by the day and will be an indicator on whether the MCO needs to be extended or not.”

Other factors for consideration were whether Covid-19 test laboratories could detect positive cases quickly and accurately and the hospitals had the capacity to take in the number of patients.”

MOH has set aside more than 8,000 beds and 500 ventilators for coronavirus patients.

“This is to ensure that patients get the best care when they are admitted.”

By ordering a lockdown early, Malaysia has managed to keep the death rate at two per million population, unlike countries such as Spain (413 deaths per million) and Italy (367 deaths per million). Combined, the two European countries have reported more than 42,000 deaths. – April 17, 2020.