‘Crucial to break Covid-19 cycle’
Malaysia running out of time, people must strictly adhere to MCO
PETALING JAYA: All Malaysians have to strictly adhere to the movement control order (MCO) if they intend to break the virus cycle, said a specialist with the Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC), Dr Badrul Hisham Abdul Samad.
He warned the
public
that
Malaysia is running out of time if they continued to defy the order.
“We don’t have much time as we are approaching the second week since the MCO was implemented. Everybody has to follow the order to break the virus transmission cycle quickly,” he said in an interview on RTM yesterday.
Badrul Hisham, who is with the Health Ministry’s CPRC Disease Control Division, said many
Malaysians were still not taking the virus outbreak seriously.
“We are still receiving complaints there are some places that do not adhere to the MCO and there are small crowds still gathering at certain places. Everyone has to take this seriously,” he said.
“We can avoid a full lockdown if everyone cooperates, but if the situation worsens, then there may be no other choice,” he added.
When asked about the success rate in curbing the Covid-19 spread since the MCO was implemented, Badrul Hisham said it seemed to be at a stabilised stage, but it was still too early to tell.
“When the MCO was put in place, it definitely helped us in the late containment phase. But it is still too early to see progress,” he said.
“But based on our data, around 100 over cases per day are being recorded, so I would say it is stabilised, but still at the early stage in flattening the curve,” he added.
He reiterated the call for the public to stay at home as it would go a long way to help curb the outbreak.
Badrul Hisham added the CPRC had received many enquiries about Covid-19 testing.
However, he said priority would be for those who show respiratory symptoms like coughing or breathing difficulties.
Those who were in close contact with Covid-19 patients are allowed to be tested at government health facilities.