Health DG: MCO part of preparations for COVID-19's 'third wave'

KUALA LUMPUR (March 27):  The movement control order (MCO) being carried out by the government now is actually part of preparations to face the COVID-19 third wave, Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.

"We carried out this MCO as a preparation for our expectations, where three weeks ago we thought there would be a third wave, or what we call a tsunami," Malaysiakini reported him telling the media earlier this evening.

Dr Noor Hisham also said that his ministry discovered that many Malaysians went out for holidays overseas, including to Japan and S Korea.

This was despite the countries being among those identified as high risk for COVID-19 together with Italy and Iran, he revealed.

Today, the Health Ministry reported that 130 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the country as of noon today, bringing the number of positive cases in Malaysia to 2,161 — the fifth highest in Asia.

Dr Noor Hisham said three more people had died of the disease, bringing the death toll to 26. Meanwhile, 44 patients have recovered and have been discharged today, bringing the number of fully recovered patients to 259.

He also said 54 cases were being treated in the intensive care unit, with 34 of the patients needing ventilators.

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