KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 — The government could allow physical exercises or sports that do not require physical contact for the current phase of the movement control order, said Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

However, he said such activities were still subject to the Health Ministry’s social distancing guidelines and crowd restrictions.

"In regards to exercise, it is also part of our standard operating procedure (SOP). Certainly, we will consider if there is no close contact in these sports.

"These are steps we are looking into and the matter will be announced soon,” he told in his daily briefing on the Covid-19 update. 

Previously, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said contact sports such as football may not resume even after the MCO is lifted, with the government still studying whether to allow professional competitions such as the Liga Malaysia to restart.

He suggested that any resumption would likely be at least a month after the MCO is ended.

Prior to that, Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) and Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Datuk Seri Norza Zakaria told Malay Mail that it was doubtful that professional sports could resume before the final quarter of 2020.

Malaysia reported 94 more Covid-19 cases today to bring the country’s total to 5,945.