KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 — Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said Malaysia is on track to avoid the exponential growth of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) previously predicted.
In his daily Covid-19 press conference, he said the country was well below the 6,300 cases that JPMorgan Chase & Co analyst forecast for the week ending April 14.
“Today we have 4,817 cases. Our target is to have fewer than 6,300 as predicted by JP Morgan.
“I think we are certainly doing much better and by tomorrow we will know. Perhaps we will have less than 5,000 cases tomorrow. I am predicting for tomorrow and hopefully we can bring it (infected cases) down to 5,000.
“Which means MCO 1 and 2 is working and it is a succeeding sign that we are able to contain, reduce cases and flatten the curve,” said Dr Noor Hisham, referring to the first two phases of the movement control order.
Looking at data from week 13 of the pandemic’s spread in the country, Dr Noor Hisham said Malaysia might already have experienced its peak and was now in the recovery phase.
However, he cautioned that the ministry must still monitor the situation closely because they intend to bring the number of cases down even further.
Dr Noor Hisham said the third MCO phase was especially critical as it could give Malaysia a small possibility of completely defeating Covid-19 as opposed to stemming its tide of growth.
“That’s why MCO3 is important because we can reduce cases and not just flatten the curve, but end Covid-19 in this country.
“But this all depends not just on MOH but on all of us right now. If we can work together, I’m sure we can do that,” said Dr Noor Hisham.
As of today, Malaysia continues to outperform the global average in terms of case growth, recoveries, and death.
