FLATTENING the curve of Covid-19 infections has helped enhance the capacity of hospitals and healthcare facilities to handle more patients, Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today. 

“Today if we see the capacity in the hospitals, we have only used less than 30% of the capacity,” he told reporters at the daily press conference today. 

He said the number of Covid-19 patients at the intensive care unit and under intubation has also been decreasing. 

“This means our capacity (to handle patients) has been enhanced.That is the reason why we need the movement control order (MCO),” he said. 

He said the three phases of the MCO have been key in flattening the curve of infections and helped Malaysia move into the recovery phase. 

However, the movement restriction is not going to put an end to the infections, he added.

“We have seen in the last one week we have double-digit cases,” he said.

“We anticipate Covid-19 will continue in terms of infection but we need to contain and control the infection from time to time and from areas to areas as long as we can control,” he added. 

Noor Hisham said strict border controls are important to curb the spread of imported cases as the virus has now been found in 180 countries.  

So far, there have been 144 positive cases among overseas returnees. 

Malaysian has closed its borders except for returning citizens. 

“We do not have the vaccine yet. The only vaccine that we have is stay at home and practice social distancing. That can be done by everyone,” he said.

Noor Hisham said it is important to practice the  precautionary measures until a vaccine is found, adding that the process could be a long one. 

On another note, Noor Hisham said there is enough personal protective equipment for frontliners. 

He said procurement and monitoring of stock levels are ongoing. – April 27, 2020.