Reopening of schools possible if Covid-19 cases remain low - Health DG

CORONAVIRUS | Schools and other educational institutions in the country may be allowed to resume operation if Malaysia continues to record a low number of new Covid-19 cases until June 9, according to the Health Ministry.

Its director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said they would need to wait until the first week of June before making any decision on opening up more sectors so as to monitor the impact from the recent Hari Raya Aidilfitri festivity. 

"In terms of daily cases, if we can have (the number at) lower double digits, or a single digit, and sustain this until June 9, perhaps we can open up more social sector and the education sector," he said at a daily press conference on the pandemic in Putrajaya this evening.

Thus, Noor Hisham stressed, social discipline and compliance by the public of the standard operating procedures given by MOH are crucial in order to achieve this target.

"We believe that if we can do so, we can bring down the number of cases (further).

"Maybe by the first week of June, we will see if this festive season has any impact on Malaysians," he said.

The government had introduced a movement control order (MCO) since March 18 to break the chain of Covid-19 infection, a move which saw most activities including education were put to a halt due to the pandemic.

As the health situation continues to show improvements, Putrajaya has gradually loosened-up restrictions including allowing most economic sectors to resume full operations late last month.

However, schools and higher learning institutions, among others, have yet to be allowed to reopen. The same also goes for some economic sectors and social activities that are deemed as risky with regards to spreading the virus.

Today, the Health Ministry recorded its lowest number of daily cases since March 12 with only 10 positive cases detected in the past 24 hours as of noon. - Mkini