AS Malaysia reports its lowest number of new cases in more than a week, Health Director- General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah is hoping that the growth of new daily Covid-19 cases will stabilise in these two weeks before the numbers decline.

The country reported 3,048 new cases today. The last time it reported a figure lower than today was on January 13, when there were 2,985 cases.

He added that the R-naught has gone down to 1.06 from 1.2. 

However, the ministry is hoping to further reduce the r-naught to below 1.0.

Speaking to the media in a special dialogue session on Zoom today, Noor Hisham said the trend of decline could begin after January 27 in the final two weeks of the MCO. 

“Our expectation is if we enforce the MCO for four weeks followed by CMCO (conditional MCO) we could see cases in the double digits by May 11.”

He said the next two weeks will show whether the movement curbs had yielded results. 

Unlike the first MCO last March, movement restrictions this time are not as stringent as  the government looks to strike a balance between saving lives and livelihoods, he said. 

While the previous MCO had cost the government RM2.4billion a day, it was effective in containing the virus. 

Noor Hisham reiterated that the subsequent CMCO that saw the curbs eased was not a failure as it helped prevent four million people from getting infected.

He said fundamental issues, such as cramped workers’ quarters that are ideal conditions for the virus to spread, have to be addressed. 

He added that the Labour Department was enlisted for the purpose. 

He said the MCO was necessary at this point to guide the people with rules.

For example, he pointed to the flurry of balik kampung journeys and social activities that followed the easing of restrictions on December 7. 

“Now we have to go back to the drawing board and take drastic action by reinstating the MCO.” – January 25, 2021.