‘Emergency helping to contain Covid-19’

As number of daily cases in Malaysia nears 3,000-mark, Home Minister says situation could have been worse

The declaration of emergency has allowed the government to be er handle the Covid-19 situation in the country, including through the amendment of several specific acts to curb the spread of the disease, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin.

Stressing that there was no hidden agenda by the government in declaring the Emergency, Hamzah said among the amended acts was the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities (Amendment) Act 2019 (Act 446) to ensure be er living conditions for foreign workers.

“Without (Emergency), maybe all this could not have been done, and most likely, we would not be able to reduce the Covid19 cases as fast as possible,” he told reporters a er co-chairing the Joint Commi ee Meeting on Management of Foreign Workers here yesterday with Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan.

He was commenting on the Commi ee to End the Proclamation of Emergency’s move to send a second le er to the Istana Negara on Tuesday requesting an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong AlSultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin AlMustafa Billah Shah to present a memorandum appealing for an end to the Emergency.

On Jan 12, Al-Sultan Abdullah consented to the declaration of a state of emergency until Aug 1, as a proactive measure to curb the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.

Meanwhile, Health directorgeneral Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham

Without (Emergency), maybe all this could not have been done, and most likely, we would not be able to reduce the Covid19 cases as fast as possible.

Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin

Abdullah yesterday said Malaysia recorded 2,875 cases with Kelantan topping the list with 662 cases. This brought the cumulative figure for positive cases to 384,688, he said on Twi er.

He said seven deaths were reported, taking the death toll to 1,407, along with 2,541 recoveries were recorded, leaving 22,014 active cases.

Selangor recorded the second highest daily figure at 633, followed by Sarawak (474) and Kuala Lumpur (332), while Perlis did not have any new infections.

A total of 169 cases were detected in Johor, followed by Sabah (160), Penang (144), Kedah (91), Negeri Sembilan (55), Perak (49), Melaka (42), Pahang (29), Terengganu (22), Putrajaya (10) and Labuan (3).

He said 248 cases were still being treated in the intensive care unit, with 115 requiring ventilator support.