PUTRAJAYA, April 21 — Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said authorities were still developing a blueprint for a return to normalcy after the movement control order but suggested that Malaysians should still strive to keep indoors.

The Health director-general stressed that the campaign against the coronavirus disease (Covid-10) was far from over despite encouraging developments such as the decline in new cases reported daily.

"If we want to end the MCO, we cannot end it immediately. There must be a soft landing. So our actions are important.

"What is certain is that those who have no connection, or are unrelated to the economic sector, for example, stay at home. So the message to stay at home is something we would continue to recommend. That can break the Covid-19 infection chain. That is important,” he added.

Earlier, Dr Noor Hisham said that six considerations must be accounted for before the government decides if the MCO should end on April 28 as currently scheduled.

These were effective border control to prevent the influx of new cases, the effectiveness of the MCO, the capacity of Malaysia’s healthcare system, measures to protect high-risk groups, adherence to new norms such as social distancing, and inter-agency cooperation.

Dr Noor Hisham also said the government should refrain from ending the MCO before new cases drop to the single digits.

Malaysia recorded 57 new Covid-19 infections and three more deaths today.