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Covid-19 cases in Malaysia expected to rise over next few days: Health official

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said authorities there will continue observing the country’s Covid-19 situation before deciding if an extension of the movement control order (MCO) will be needed.

Medical worker collects a swab sample from a man to be tested for the coronavirus disease in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia on Monday, Jan 18, 2021.

Medical worker collects a swab sample from a man to be tested for the coronavirus disease in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia on Monday, Jan 18, 2021.

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KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said authorities there will continue observing the country’s Covid-19 situation before deciding if an extension of the movement control order (MCO) will be needed.

In a press conference on Tuesday (Jan 19), Dr Noor Hisham said it was still too early to gauge the effectiveness of the MCO as new cases currently reported were likely from infections prior to its implementation.

“The incubation period for the Covid-19 virus is two weeks — so those we detect now are from those infected from before MCO 2.0.

“Even though we have already put in place the MCO 2.0, we cannot yet see the result of it just yet. Cases will continue to rise these next few days — but we are hopeful that in a week or so we will see that the number of Covid-19 cases start to stabilise.

“Then, we will be able to see the true impact and reduction of cases due to the implementation of MCO 2.0,” he said.

He added that the findings in the next week will dictate whether the MCO 2.0 will be extended for another two weeks.

Earlier on Tuesday, Malaysia’s senior defence minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that five more states will come under the movement control order (MCO) from Jan 22, effectively locking down the whole country except Sarawak that remains under the conditional MCO. MALAY MAIL

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Covid-19 coronavirus Malaysia movement control order

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