KUALA LUMPUR:"Wipe away your tears …," said Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah to the frontline staff while the COVID-19 cases in the country continues to show a spike lately.

The 'war machine' in an update on his Twitter and Facebook pages on Saturday expressed words of encouragement to the staff of the Ministry of Health (MOH) in an effort to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Director-General of Health explained that the frontline staff had to endure the situation despite being tired.

“To all our frontliners, we have a huge battle ahead of us. Our country depends on us despite many sleepless nights and chronic fatigue.

“Wipe your tears, chin up, eyes forward, lets flatten the curve again,” wrote Dr Noor Hisham.

The message, which also displayed a picture of MOH staff in front of Alor Setar Prison, Kedah, has seen retweets from more than 19,000 Twitter users, so far.

The update clearly touched the hearts of citizens, who mostly hoped that the country's frontline staff would continue to face the challenges of eliminating COVID-19.

Twitter user Hurrem (@madamaenn) said: "We always pray for DG (Director-General of Health) and all the 'frontliners'. Thank you Allah S.W.T for giving us all these heroes.”

Meanwhile, Twitter user Michelle Lee (@leychien_lee) hoped that the staff would always be safe.

“Stay safe all the frontliners. Some may be our friends who have to go through this. Please everyone, stay at home for all of them!

“To all the frontliners, appreciate much for all your contributions and sacrifices! Pray hard that this battle gonna come to an end soon!,” she wrote.

In addition, some Twitter users were also seen expressing anger over the attitude of some irresponsible parties, which allegedly caused an increase in COVID-19 cases.

On Saturday, Malaysia recorded the highest daily cases since the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) with 317 cases.

All the reported cases involved domestic transmission.