CORONAVIRUS | Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said it is possible to break the transmission of Covid-19 without a vaccine as long as everyone follows the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and guidelines set by the government.
He gave the examples of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) infections, pointing out that the transmissions of these two diseases were broken through public health action without any vaccines.
“Until today Sars and Mers do not have any vaccines but through the public health action method, we managed to curb the spread of Sars and Mers in our country without using any vaccines.
“So it is possible that without using any vaccines, as long as we all comply with the SOPs and all public health advice, we could also break the Covid-19 transmission without a vaccine.
“But if there is a vaccine, that is even better,” Noor Hisham (photo) said in his daily press conference at the Health Ministry today.
He said there was recent research from the New England Journal of Medicine which stated that if people maintained a social distance of at least one metre, wore face masks and washed their hands often, it is possible to break the transmission of Covid-19.
That is why, he said, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recently released new guidelines in the fight against Covid-19, based on these new facts.
Noor Hisham again urged the public to follow the SOPs and guidelines set by the government in order to break the transmission of Covid-19.
If new Covid-19 cases remain at one or two-digit figures, he said by the end of the newly-announced recovery movement control order (MCO) on Aug 31, the government could start planning an exit strategy.
Noor Hisham also said if the SOP compliance rate remains high, the reproduction rate or R-naught figure could go below 0.3.
For the record, before the MCO, the R-naught in Malaysia was at 3.55, meaning each infected person was infecting 3.55 others.
After the MCO, the R-naught figure had gradually decreased to 0.3, which shows the control order had achieved its goal, said Noor Hisham.
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