“It’s affecting patients and staff. Local manufacturers are exporting such items while private hospitals are crying out for supplies.”

Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) group chief financial officer Boo Hui Yee: Our immediate priority is to stem losses, save cash and sustain the business against the highly 'changeable' uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Government must “act decisively to ban mass gatherings”, said the Malaysian Health Coalition.

MTUC secretary-general J. Solomon: In Malaysia, the government seems averse to drastically reducing public interaction to reduce the risk of mass infections.

And what were people buying? Yes , it's toilet paper! Other items that have been flying off the shelves include canned food, instant noodles, frozen food like dumplings, pasta and mushrooms plus rice, flour and eggs are also selling fast.

The authorities should instead “focus on mitigation to reduce the number of cases and optimise the healthcare resources”, said Dr Lee Boon Chye.

“The advice for social distancing has obviously fallen on deaf ears, as I see people going about their daily lives as if there is no threat at all.

“I do consider the implication of such measures, but we do not want to be too late, like other countries, which are fighting a losing battle now. Every day matters,” the statement said.

MoH revealed that most of the new cases are related to the cluster of tabligh assembly in Sri Petaling mosque.

MoH said 37 new cases were detected among Patient-Under-Investigation (PUI). Meanwhile, the remaining four cases contracted the disease through close contact.

The report said the challenges include the local retail sector’s lacklustre performance and the requirement for foreign entrants to sell 30% of the business to a local within three years of its entry into the market.