ONLY 22% new infections since the enforcement of the conditional movement control order (CMCO) on May 4 involved Malaysians, said Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He attributed this to the high level of compliance among Malaysians to movement restrictions procedures, which he said stood at about 90%.

Noor Hisham said a week after Hari Raya, there are very few new cases involving Malaysians, with only 10 infections involving citizens  today.

The focus now, he said, was to ensure that there is a high compliance among migrants.

“If that is so, perhaps before the end of the CMCO we will look at the whole implementation and perhaps open up more sectors,” Dr Noor Hisham said.

This, he said, will be done gradually and cautiously, and will include social, sports and even the education sectors, he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said as far as the education sector is concerned, priority will be given to Forms 5 and 6 students, as they will be sitting for the SPM and STPM exams.

“We are monitoring daily and we hope that this good trend will continue. There was a spike in cases but it is mostly involved illegal immigrants and foreign workers,” he said.

He said the ministry’s strategy now is to tackle the local transmissions of the virus, tighten border control and protect vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and those with comorbidities.

He said Malaysia has yet to enter the exit strategy phase and is still very much  under the CMCO.

“We have not planned our exit strategy like other countries,” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said it is important to inculcate the measures of the new normal until a cure is found for the virus. – May 30, 2020.