PUTRAJAYA, May 2 — Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the move to let most businesses reopen on May 4 did not mean it was necessary for all to do so at once

He again stressed the importance for the public to obey existing standard operating procedures (SOP) as it could affect the outcome of the ongoing movement control order (MCO) now in its fourth phase.

He said this is especially the case since the MCO will be slightly loosened by this coming Monday, in which certain industrial and economic sectors deemed vital or providing essential services will be allowed to operate at a limited capacity.

"It is not necessary to actually start one’s business on Monday itself. While it was mentioned earlier that the economic sector will be permitted to operate, the social and education sectors will still be delayed,” Dr Noor Hisham said during his daily press conference.

To this, he discouraged the public from rushing to their offices or going out onto the streets on Monday unless absolutely necessary, as failure to obey the SOPs could undo the MCO’s efforts.

"My message is very clear; those working in the other sectors please stay at home. It is the safest place in the world right now for you to break the Covid-19 chain of transmission.

"Equally important is social compliance and social responsibility. The onus now is not solely on the ministry, the onus is also now on the public to do so as well if we are to ever succeed,” Dr Noor Hisham said.

The director-general also announced that new SOPs will soon be issued for restaurants, eateries and public transportation as soon as possible.

Dr Noor Hisham reported 105 new cases today, bringing the total number of cases to 6,176. Of the 105, 11 are import cases while 94 are local. Sixty of these cases were detected in localities under the extended MCO.

No deaths was reported, leaving the total number of fatalities at 103 cases or 1.67 per cent of the total cases. Currently 1,747 cases are still being treated for Covid-19 in hospitals nationwide.