KUALA LUMPUR: If there is no intervention, Malaysia could record between 5,000 and 10,000 Covid-19 cases daily after the Hari Raya celebrations, based on a forecast by the health Ministry.
Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the need to re-instate the Movement Control Order (MCO) was crucial to flatten the Covid-19 curve.
"The last few days, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur clocked the highest Covid-19 cases every day. In fact, new Covid-19 variants were detected in these two states, with 13 new clusters.
"Recently, the Health Ministry presented their forecast that we might hit over 5,000 or even up to 10,000 Covid-19 cases in a day, after Raya, if there was no intervention.
"This is why we (the government) had to act now, by re-instating MCO as soon as possible to control Covid-19 transmissions," he told reporters at a buka puasa event at Tahfiz and Asrama Anak Yatim Angkatan Tentera Malaysia School (STAY ATM), today.
Touching on the no dine-in policy, Ismail Sabri said this was done because of lax standard operating procedures (SOP) in eateries.
"Sometimes you see that not many people follow the physical distancing rule. If they do that while wearing face masks, it is still acceptable, as the face masks act as layered security for them.
"I understand many have called for dine-in to continue… but we cannot take the risk, as the goal is to reduce the number of cases. I hope the rakyat understand… it is not our intention to burden them.
"I know some sections of the community are angry… but our sole purpose of reinstating the MCO is to save lives, as we do not want the situation in India to happen here," he said.