MUHYIDDIN TO FLIP-FLOP AGAIN? WE’RE NOT BEING HASTY, INSISTS ISMAIL SABRI – EVEN AS NEW COVID CASES JUMP BACK TO TRIPLE DIGITS – AND SARAWAK REFUSES TO FOLLOW MAY 4 REOPENING OF ECONOMY TO SAFEGUARD LIVES

The number of new Covid-19 cases in the country is back in the triple digits, with 105 new infections, the highest in 16 days.

Of the new infections, 94 were local or community transmissions, and 11 were imported cases.

Of the community infections, 38 involved migrants, and 56 were Malaysians.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (above) announced that 60 of the new infections occurred in enhanced movement control order (MCO) areas.

There were 36 new cases near the Selayang wholesale market, of which 35 were migrants. There were 20 new cases at Selayang Baru, and four at the Selangor Mansion.

Six of the new cases today were also from a tahfiz school in Lanchang, Pahang, which has been classified as a new cluster.

Noor Hisham said the tahfiz school is closed but there are still students and staff living there.

Hence he said, there is a possibility the school would be placed under enhanced MCO.

On the bright side, 70 percent or 4,326 patients have recovered, with 116 being discharged today.

No new deaths were reported today. The death toll remains at 103.

Of the current cases, 31 are in the intensive care unit (ICU) five less than yesterday. Twelve of the critical cases need ventilators, two less than yesterday.

The rise in infections come as the government plans to ease MCO restrictions and allow many businesses to operate starting Monday.

Noor Hisham stressed again today that there is a need to strike a balance between life and livelihood, but said that the safest place for now remains home.

He said despite the eased restrictions, social distancing must be observed to avoid a resurgence of cases.

S’wak will not reopen economy on Monday

Sarawak has decided that it will not follow Putrajaya’s lead in reopening the economy on Monday and maintain status quo in terms of the movement control order (MCO) restrictions.

In a statement today, Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) head and Deputy Chief Minister Amar Douglas Uggah Embas (above) said the state government must consider Sarawak’s circumstances first before making a decision.

Uggah said the SDMC is presently of the opinion that the standard of compliance for the reopening of economic activities was not conducive in the state.

“The Sarawak government fully respects the announcement made by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on the need to reopen the economy hence relaxing the MCO effective this Monday, May 4.

“However, the state government has decided to study the implications of the reopening of such economic activities, which sectors to open, when and to what extent they will be allowed to open,” he said.

Uggah said the SDMC will study changes to the regulations under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act (Measures within the Infected Local Areas) Regulations 2020 first.

Meanwhile, Uggah said businesses that have been granted permits by the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) will still need state government approval before resuming operations.

Officially, the MCO will expire on May 12 but Putrajaya will allow most businesses to resume operations by Monday to avoid further economic pain.

Some critics have claimed that this was too soon and businesses will not have enough time to internalise the new guidelines for resuming business, set by the National Security Council (NSC).

We’re not being hasty, relaxation doesn’t mean end of MCO – Minister

Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has defended the decision to reopen the economy next Monday, stressing that the government is not being hasty in allowing certain sectors to operate again, as it is merely a relaxation of rules and does not mean that the movement control order (MCO) is over.

“We are not opening up everything, not everyone can operate.

“For example, the Education Ministry still cannot operate, schools and universities still cannot operate.

“Gatherings are still not allowed… Just because we’re opening up doesn’t mean we are doing it hastily as claimed by some,” he told a press conference in Putrajaya.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday announced the reopening of the country’s economy albeit with stringent standard operating procedures (SOP).

Ismail Sabri said the announcement is consistent with what the government had repeatedly stated, which is there will be a gradual relaxation as the Covid-19 situation in the country improves.

“However, this does not mean that the MCO has been rescinded. We are only relaxing the rules for certain sectors,” he said.

He added that the government is now taking an even more targeted approach in curbing Covid-19.

He gave the example of Putrajaya, which is a Covid-19 red zone, meaning the area has 41 or more active cases.

However, he pointed out that when authorities zoomed in on the data, all the cases are only concentrated in one precinct.

“It is not fair that the green zones are treated the same way as the red zones,” he said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had outlined several measures to put in place before reopening the country, including the need to have a strong testing regime.

Ismail Sabri assured that the country has sufficient capacity as well as hospital beds and ventilators.

“We had aimed for a capacity of 16,000 tests a day but we can now do more than that,” he said.

Asked if Malaysia could risk a relapse of the pandemic like in Hokkaido, Japan, he said the situations were different.

“If you look at Hokkaido, Japan, they allowed foreigners to enter the country. It was the sakura blooming season and many people from outside went in, causing imported cases.

“But it is different here as we have closed down (overseas travel) and until today, foreigners are not allowed in.

“Airports won’t accept foreigners and even Malaysians returning home must be quarantined,” he said.

He said the government is ready to face any new Covid-19 outbreak and will employ a targeted approach.

He also stressed that all businesses that are reopening must comply with the strict SOPs, such as temperature monitoring and social distancing, or they will be ordered closed.

He added that police may decide to redeploy some personnel from roadblocks to ensure businesses are observing the SOPs.

As of noon yesterday, the country recorded 6,071 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 103 deaths.

However, 4,210 of those have recovered while another 1,758 are in treatment.

The infection rate has gone down after more than a month of partial lockdown.

The MCO began on March 18 and is set to end on May 12.

Under the MCO, all non-essential businesses and services were ordered closed and people cannot leave their homes except for approved reasons, such as buying groceries within a 10km radius.

The move, aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19, has brought a large part of the country’s economy to a standstill.

MKINI