MALAYSIA will not implement movement control order (MCO) as a measure to curb the current spike in Covid-19 cases, Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said. 

“I admit that Covid-19 infections in Malaysia are surging. 

“However, for the time being, I don’t think there will be a need to implement movement restrictions as we did before,” the new health minister told a press conference on the current Covid-19 situation today.

The newly minted health minister said the number of coronavirus infections in the country had increased by 62.2% to 20,696 between December 10 and 16.  

Dzulkefly said 97% of the new infections were in the less severe categories of 1 and 2, while 619 (3%) of the cases were in the serious categories of 3, 4, and 5. 

A total of 151 patients were admitted to the intensive care unit, where 96 required respiratory support.  

Dzulkefly also said the ministry had come up with a five-point strategy to tackle the matter.  

The five goals are: Early detection of Covid-19 via the Heightened Alert System, community tracing via TRIIS (test, report, isolate, inform and seek), health facility monitoring and control of Covid-19 cases especially among high-risk groups, community empowerment through effective risk communication, and digitisation of the health system in pandemic management through MySejahtera.  

Having had experience in handling the Covid-19 crisis, Dzulkefly stressed that the health ministry was equipped to face any eventuality.  

“Nothing to be alarmed about but we can’t take things lightly. 

“We have to ensure that all preventative measures are followed, including use of face masks, which is highly encouraged especially in enclosed environments,” he said. 

He also encouraged people in the high-risk group and the immunocompromised to consider taking booster jabs.  

“With that, we can control the adverse complications that may be brought by the infection,” he said. – December 18, 2023.