Dr Noor Hisham: Covid-19 cases to rise over next days, Health Ministry still studying if MCO extension necessary
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 — Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said authorities will continue observing the country’s Covid-19 situation before deciding if an extension of the movement control order (MCO) will be needed.
In a press conference today, he said it was still too early to gauge the effectiveness of the MCO as new cases currently reported were likely from infections prior to its implementation.
“The incubation period for the Covid-19 virus is two weeks — so those we detect now are from those infected from before MCO 2.0.
“Even though we have already put in place the MCO 2.0, we cannot yet see the result of it just yet. Cases will continue to rise these next few days — but we are hopeful that in a week or so we will see that the number of Covid-19 cases start to stabilise.
“Then, we will be able to see the true impact and reduction of cases due to the implementation of MCO 2.0,” he said.
He added that the findings in the next week will dictate whether the MCO 2.0 will be extended for another two weeks.
Earlier today, Senior Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that five more states will come under the movement control order (MCO) from January 22, effectively locking down the whole country except Sarawak that remains under the conditional MCO.
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