THE first and second phases of the movement-control order (MCO) have helped Malaysia flatten the Covid-19 peak, Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.

The country is now in the recovery phase after passing a peak of 217 cases on April 3.

“We were (also) expecting a peak on April 14 projected at 6,300 cases but we did not see it.

“It means perhaps MCO 1 and 2 have flattened the peak and we are now in a recovery phase, not a peak phase,” the director-general of health told the daily press briefing on Covid-19 in Putrajaya.

“We hope we can continue our momentum, ensure we can control the cases and reduce them,” he added.

Prior to the MCO, which began on March 18, the R-naught (R0) or infection rate for Malaysia stood at 3.55 – meaning one positive case could infect up to 3.55 people.

After April 14, Dr Noor Hisham said the R-naught for Malaysia has dropped to less than one.

R-naught represents the number of new infections estimated to originate from a single case.

The number of active cases as of today, after death and recoveries, is 1,932. The total number of Malaysia’s Covid-19 cases is 5,691.

There were 88 new infections today, the eighth consecutive day of double-digit cases.

The MCO was enforced on March 18, initially for two weeks.

It has since been extended three times and is slated to end on May 12, putting Malaysians under a partial lockdown for a total of eight weeks. – April 24, 2020.