KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry has proposed that the Movement Control Order (MCO) be imposed in states with a high number of Covid-19 cases to curb the spread of the disease.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said the proposal came as the pandemic showed no sign of slowing down, with daily new cases exceeding the 3,000 mark for the third day in a row.
He said a proposal for the MCO to be imposed in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor, Kedah and Sarawak had been submitted.
"The Health Ministry has suggested to state governments, the federal government and National Security Council to impose the MCO following a thorough risk assessment, where we looked at several key indicators.
"The matter is being discussed in depth and an announcement (on the MCO implementation) will be made soon.
"We are not looking at imposing a blanket MCO nationwide, but only statewide MCO for states with a high number of Covid-19 infections, for example, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor, Kedah and Sarawak," he told the New Straits Times.
He said details on standard operating procedures for states that would be placed under the MCO and the duration of the implementation would be announced once the matter was finalised.
He said Ramadan bazaars in MCO states must close to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
"We are looking into the mechanisms and implementation, such as whether workers would be ordered to work from home and businesses that would be allowed to operate.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah yesterday said the country recorded 3,788 new Covid-10 cases, raising the total number of infections to 408,713, with 29,227 active cases.
This was an increase from 3,142 and 3,332 new Covid-19 cases logged on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
The ministry previously projected that Malaysia could face more than 5,000 new cases a day by May 29.
On yesterday's infections, Dr Noor Hisham said Selangor contributed the highest number of cases at 1,265 (33.4 per cent), followed by Sarawak (760 or 20.1 per cent) and Kelantan (464 or 12.3 per cent).
Other states that saw three-digit new infections were Kuala Lumpur (255), Penang (250), Johor (160), Negri Sembilan (136), Kedah (136) and Perak (118).
"Sabah logged 89 new cases, followed by Melaka (55), Pahang (54), Terengganu (37), Perlis (five), Putrajaya (two) and Labuan (two)."
He said the number of critical Covid-19 patients in Malaysia had reached a new high, with a record 328 people in intensive care.
"A total of 328 Covid-19 patients have been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit, which is the highest number so far. Of that, 161 require breathing assistance."
Dr Noor Hisham said 3,786 new infections were local transmissions, with 3,476 (91.8 per cent) involving Malaysians and 310 (8.2 per cent) involving foreigners, adding that two imported cases involved foreigners.
He said 14 more fatalities — 13 Malaysians and one foreigner — were reported, raising the death toll to 1,506 (0.37 per cent).
He said 2,640 more patients had recovered, bringing the cumulative number of recoveries to 377,980 (92.5 per cent).
On Twitter, Dr Noor Hisham said Malaysia reported a Covid-19 cases incidence rate of 834, with a total of 285,441 cases reported from Jan 1 to April 27 this year.
He said people between the age of 20 and 29 had the highest Covid-19 cases incidence rate, at 1,406 in per 100,000 population.
The incidence rate for those between age 30 and 39 was 1,341; 867 for those between age 40 and 49; 661 for those between age 50 and 59; and 536 for those between age 60 and 69.
He said individuals between the age of 10 and 19 had an incidence rate of 482; 417 for those between age 70 and 79; 406 for those above age 80; and 343 for those between age zero and nine.
According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the incidence rate describes how quickly disease occurs in a population.