MCO 2.0: Longer period needed to reduce infections - Health expert

KUALA LUMPUR: A health expert is of the opinion that the Movement Control Order (MCO) needs to be implemented longer if the government wants to flatten the COVID-19 transmission curve.

Public Health Expert of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Associate Prof Dr Malina Osman, said the maximum number of active cases was around 2,596 when the first MCO was implemented in March 2020, compared to 33,000 on January 14 (yesterday).

Therefore, due to the high number of active cases, the Ministry of Health (MOH) needs more time in their efforts to flatten the spread of COVID-19.

"When we look at the data, we had around 2,596 active cases last year compared to over 33,000 cases yesterday.

"If last year we needed around 6 weeks or 2 months, I expect we need more than two months this time around.

“I expect we need three months for the figure of 33,000 to be lowered," she told Astro AWANI.

Dr Malina also opined that flexibility in the social sector, with some who did not comply with the standard operating procedure (SOP), has caused contagion in the community to increase.

Last Monday, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced the implementation of the MCO in six states - Penang, Selangor, Federal Territories (Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan), Melaka, Johor and Sabah - for a period of 14 days starting Wednesday (13 Jan) to January 26.

Six other states - Pahang, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Terengganu and Kelantan were categorized under the Conditional MCO (CMCO) while Rehabilitation MCO (RMCO) for Perlis and Sarawak, for the same period.