Malaysia sees a lot more than 4,500 new COVID-19 cases; authorities say not planning nationwide MCO
09 May, 2021
Malaysia reported 4,519 new COVID-19 cases during the past a day on Saturday (May 8), the next consecutive day that daily infections have crossed the 4,000 mark.
Selangor recorded the best number of new cases with 1,722 infections, accompanied by Kuala Lumpur with 557 and Sarawak with 479.
This brings Malaysia's cumulative total to 436,944 cases, said health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
There were 25 more deaths from COVID-19, bring the total fatalities to at least one 1,657.
Dr Noor Hisham said the rise in COVID-19 cases is worrying, adding that medical ministry is concerned the problem in India could occur in Malaysia if drastic action is not taken quickly.
"Based on the current Rt value of just one 1.1 projection, it's estimated that daily cases would reach 5,000 in 2-3 weeks," he said, discussing the effective reproduction number that indicates how fast the condition is spreading.
The health ministry is looking at expanding hospital capacity to manage COVID-19 cases, he added.
NO NATIONWIDE MCO
Amid the rising number of cases, Malaysia has put in place tighter measures in places.
Kuala Lumpur is under a movement control order (MCO) from Friday to May 20. Several districts in Selangor and Johor have also been located under renewed MCO restrictions.
There are no plans, however, to implement a nationwide MCO, said Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Saturday. The federal government will instead proceed with targeted movement restrictions.
A targeted MCO could be enforced based on the "hotspots identification for dynamic engagement" (HIDE) system that indicates specific areas with large COVID-19 outbreaks, he said.
"When there is a hotspot area, we will enforce an MCO in line with the village, subdistrict or district which has a sizable number of outbreak cases, with the smallest scale (of the MCO) which will be implemented being the increased movement control order (EMCO), but it it's still done in a targeted manner," said Mr Ismail Sabri.
"However, various possibilities can occur because according to data from the Ministry of Health when there is no intervention from the federal government, cases can are as long as a lot more than 5,000 following the (Aidilfitri) celebration and may rise to 10,000 cases in July and August," he said.
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