KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 24 — Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today warned that some overworked medical frontliners battling the Covid-19 outbreak are now prepared to throw in their towels.

Taking to Facebook, Dr Noor Hisham said medical workers are experiencing mental and physical fatigue, given the number of cases in recent days, which has been seeing a steady exponential rise.

He then again made a heartfelt call for unity and togetherness, and not enmity, when it comes to containing the virus outbreak and to learn from the Sabah by-election, after which Covid-19 infection cases surged.

"We need unity and togetherness to fight this war against Covid-19, not against each other.

"Our frontliners have been enduring on the ground for the last 10 months 24/7. Mental & physical fatigue setting in. Some are prepared to throw in the towel. Please learn from PRN Sabah,” he tweeted this morning.

Speculation has been rife that the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government is seeking to declare a state of emergency as Malaysia struggles to contain the spike in Covid-19 infection that has also hurt the economy.

Reports have so far suggested that Putrajaya is seeking a dubious so-called state of "partial emergency”, also dubbed as "economic, health, or political emergency”.

It is unclear what the emergency powers being sought are at the moment as the breadth and scope under a state of emergency are far-ranging.

This comes as the country recorded a new high of Covid-19 deaths at 10 fatalities two days ago, bringing the total to 214.

Malaysia also recorded 710 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, bringing total positive cases to 24,514.

Yesterday, Muhyiddin and several other government leaders attended an audience with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah at the latter’s Istana Abdulaziz in Kuantan.

However, no announcement was made following the audience.