JOHOR BARU: International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali today refuted claims that the government has failed to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the country.
Refuting the claim, Azmin said the government has instead managed to reduce the infectivity rate, or Rt, as well as the number of daily cases.
He said this was achieved through the implementation of strict measures, including the Movement Control Order (MCO) 3.0.
"I would like to stress that although there are those who said we have failed to carry out our duty, Malaysia actually managed to contain the spread of Covid-19 with the implementation of MCO 3.0.
"According to the SEIR model used by the Health Ministry, Malaysia should have recorded 13,000 new cases on Monday. Instead, we only recorded 4,949 cases on June 14.
"Why this happened was because of the strict measures we have taken, which were successful in controlling the spread of the virus.
"Our efforts in implementing MCO 3.0 as part of the measures to restrict the people's movement and control Covid-19 have begun to show positive results," said Azmin.
Azmin was speaking to the media after visiting the PIKAS (Public Private Industry Immunisation Programme) vaccination centre at the Austin International Convention Centre at Taman Mount Austin here.
Azmin however did not deny the existence of clusters at the workplace, especially in industrial areas.
"There are clusters at the workplace including in factories or dormitories and construction sites. However, we are of the opinion that the most important thing (to do) to control the spread of Covid-19 is to implement MCO 3.0 in order to restrict public movement.
"We understand the importance of the people's lives and would not compromise on the matter but, at the same time, we also need to look at essential services that can operate under strict standard operating procedures (SOP).
"This is important to ensure the people's health and prosperity."