COVID-19: Residents associations can play a role to 'protect their community', says Health DG

KUALA LUMPUR (April 6): The Health Ministry said today that residents associations can be “empowered” to protect their community from COVID-19, reported Malaysiakini.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah explained that longhouses in Sarawak have demonstrated that community leaders can prevent the spread of COVID-19 by stopping high-risk people from entering their areas.

He added that if such measures can successfully break the chain of COVID-19 infection, the “authorities may review the way they are enforcing the movement control order (MCO) like what is being done today”.

"The enhanced MCO implemented in three areas now is only to assist MOH in conducting active detection.

"But now we are looking into the possibility of empowering our community, like condominium committees to safeguard their area.

"This like what I have mentioned before in the Orang Asli case, where they ensure that high-risk groups do not come into their community. It means that you are protecting your green area," the news portal reported Dr Noor Hisham saying during a media conference in Putrajaya on the latest development of the COVID-19 situation in the country.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham told the media that for the first time since the outbreak in Malaysia, the number of cured COVID-19 cases in Malaysia have exceeded new infections.

He announced that there 131 new confirmed COVID-19 cases as of noon today, raising the tally to 3,793 cases.

This is 48 fewer cases than 179 reported yesterday.

Meanwhile, 236 patients have recovered and were discharged today, bringing the total number of cured cases to 1,241, or 32.72% of overall COVID-19 cases in Malaysia.

Today’s number of cured patients sets a new a record — the previous was 122 reported last Thursday (April 2), in the initial part of the Movement Control Order’s (MCO) second phase.

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