KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry has urged the people to observe "self-movement control" during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period.
This comes after the country recorded its highest death tolls at 47, and the number of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions now at 531.
With the spread of Covid-19 Variants of Concern (VOC), health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah is expecting a spike in Covid-19 cases as in other foreign countries as the new variants have a higher infectivity rate.
"Apart from improving the healthcare system, the ministry is urging the public to observe self-movement control especially during MCO to break the Covid-19 infection chain.
"It starts with us. This can be done by staying home and not going out when there is no urgency to do so, while observing the standard operating procedures (SOP).
"Employers are urged to offer work from home and limit workers attendance to office at a time," he said in a statement today.
The past week saw active cases going beyond the 40,000 mark, with government and private hospitals together with Low-Risk Quarantine and Treatment Centres approaching maximum capacity, he said.
What is more worrying, said Dr Noor Hisham, is that the number of cases admitted to ICU and needing breathing assistance has also increased in the past week.
He said this has put pressure on the country's healthcare system.
"The people are important frontliners at the moment and we hope they can continue to stay home. We have no other choice. 'Kita jaga kita'," he added.