Health DG: Perception MCO has ended, tomorrow we 'celebrate' is wrong

PUTRAJAYA (May 3): The perception that the Movement Control Order (MCO) has run its course once the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) takes effect tomorrow is a wrong one, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (pictured) said. 

He said the MCO was still in force, but will now take a social compliance and self-discipline approach when it comes to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) enforced to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. 

He said the SOPs under CMCO were the same ones used in South Korea, Taiwan and Sweden, countries which managed to contain the pandemic without enforcing any form of movement restrictions and instead rely on a high level of social compliance and self-discipline. 

“It would be wrong to perceive that the MCO is over and tomorrow we can ‘celebrate’. The MCO is still in force,” he said at the Health Ministry’s (MOH) COVID-19 media briefing here today. 

Dr Noor Hisham said Malaysia will now use the SOP approach, adding that there needs to be solid cooperation between the government and the public for the pandemic to be contained. 

He said Malaysia has implemented four MCO phases and through them, managed to flatten the COVID-19 curve. 

Dr Noor Hisham said flexibility given under the CMCO was only meant for those capable of complying with the SOPs stipulated by the MOH. 

“If there are states, companies or businesses which are unable to comply with the CMCO directives, they will reinstate MCO directives that apply the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342).

“Those who feel they are unable to comply with the SOP approach, we advise them to remain at home and only go out for important matters,” he said. 

Dr Noor Hisham said the MOH was also looking into how to reinforce its services for senior citizens, who have been identified as high-risk groups for COVID-19, including administering treatment at their homes. 

Meanwhile, commenting on what is now dubbed the ‘construction cluster’, Dr Noor Hisham said the MOH was investigating on whether this new cluster in Kuala Lumpur originated from other clusters. 

He said all 28 positive cases under this cluster involved foreigners who may have been staying in the same communal area. 

“We found that the individuals in this cluster may have been staying at the same apartment.

“Investigations are ongoing if they (construction cluster) are linked to any specific clusters, but so far there is no firm evidence to suggest that,” he said. 

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