PETALING JAYA: The government is taking a cautions approach in its decision to reopen the education and social sectors.
Health Ministry director general Datuk Noor Hisham Abdullah said the ministry could consider opening up the education sector and other social sectors if the number of cases remain in the lower double or single digit figures but pointed out that timing is critical in reopening of these sectors.
“At present we are reporting a low number of cases but we have to see if this is due to the festive occasion. We can only make a decision later,“ he said during his daily press conference.
The number of new Covid-19 cases in country remained at double digit figures for the second day running.
Ten new cases were reported with no new deaths. All 10 were from local transmissions and five involved non-citizens.
Eight are being treated at intensive care units, with four on ventilator support. The cumulative number of cases and deaths as at noon yesterday stood at 7,629 and 115, respectively.
“Further decision on the next steps to be taken in regard to the conditional movement control order (CMCO) will be made after June 9,” Noor Hisham said.
Meanwhile, he said inter-ministry cooperation has shown that working together can bring down the numbers.
“The CMCO has also been a success but for figures to remain low, the public needs to cooperate by adhering to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs),” he said.
“Based on the ministry’s calculations, we are moving in the right direction but SOPs must be followed through.
“My concern now is the increasing number of cases at immigration detention centres. If we can get a handle on this and reduce the rate of local infection, we can decide on the next step,” he said.
He raised that illegal and legal migrants must be viewed holistically so that a long-term solution can be found; not only for Covid-19 but other infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. “We need to ensure these do not spread among the foreign worker communities,” he said.
He urged the public to download the Hotspot Tracker, which is part of the MySejahtera app.
“It can help people adapt to daily life, plan their journey and identifying Covid-19 risk areas. This will be useful, as you will know of cases reported within a 1km radius in an area over the past 28 days,” he pointed out.
