KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 — Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today there are signs of complacency within the community likely emboldened by the drop in daily Covid-19 positive cases.
People living in Covid-19-free districts, or green zones, have begun to take the movement control order (MCO) lightly, he said at the Ministry of Health’s daily press briefing.
“We can see that people in the green zones are already taking the MCO lightly,” he said.
“And this is worrying for us at the Ministry of Health.”
As of noon, the number of green zones nationwide remains at 26. Most were in the northern peninsular states and predominantly rural or semi-urban areas.
The MOH marks districts with zero Covid-19 cases green, yellow to indicate cases numbering one to 40, and those above flagged as red.
Since last week, the government has already indicated willingness to relax some restrictions in these zones, although it has yet to provide a definitive timeline.
The authorities have said the public have mostly complied with the MCO, while Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yakob said earlier that there has been a reduction in the number of arrests — just over 300 today from some 500 yesterday.
Yet, Dr Noor Hisham cited the minister to suggest there are still those who continue to violate the restrictions.
“Like the senior minister said there is still a small number of people who ignore the MCO,” he said.
“The MOH is worried that there is complacency and the public will take lightly all the health advisories provided by the ministry because they think the outbreak is nearly ending.”
The Health D-G has issued similar daily warnings about the possibility of more infections should the MCO be lifted too quickly, and has advised decision-makers that now is not the time to ease up on restrictions, as calls mount for the economy to be reopened.
Today, Dr Noor Hisham said the country is still “at war with an invisible army” and social distancing measures against the coronavirus must remain in place.
“The Covid-19 virus is our mutual foe,” he said.
“But we must be reminded that complacency and carelessness are two of its allies.”
