MOH wants tighter conditional MCO as cases continue to rise

 

COVID-19 | The Health Ministry will suggest in the National Security Council (NSC) meeting to tighten the restrictions under the targeted conditional movement control order (MCO) to only allow economic activities, said its director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

“The Health Ministry wants to suggest to tighten the conditional MCO, we will only allow the economic sector,” he said during his press conference at the Health Ministry in Putrajaya today.

Noor Hisham stressed that this is part of their targeted approach to “flatten the curve” as the number of cases continues to rise every day.

The main idea is to have fewer gatherings and in order to do so, he said there is a need to control the education, sports and social sectors in targeted areas such as in Sabah and the Klang Valley.

“We will discuss this in the NSC meeting on its implementation and so on,” Noor Hisham said.

This comes after Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob (photo) announced yesterday that gymnasiums would be allowed to reopen in areas under the conditional MCO.

He said the government had considered an appeal from the Youth and Sports Ministry to allow operations of gymnasiums as well as indoor futsal courts.

“Given those activities in the gymnasium are carried out individually and with social distancing, not in close contact, the meeting today has decided to allow operations of gymnasiums with strict standard operating procedures,” Ismail had said yesterday.

Both Sabah and the Klang Valley had been placed under conditional MCO since last Tuesday (Oct 13) and Wednesday (Oct 14) respectively.

Earlier, Noor Hisham had announced 871 new Covid-19 cases today, marking yet another record high for the second consecutive day since the start of the pandemic in January.

Sabah alone recorded 702 of the new cases today.

 - Mkini