KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah implored Malaysians to adhere strictly to the standard operating procedures (SOP) that are in place during the Covid-19 pandemic to avoid a second wave of cases.

This comes after the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned of a second peak in areas where Covid-19 appears to be on the decline.

Malaysia recorded only 15 new infections in the last 24-hour period for the first time since the movement control order (MCO) was called in March.

“The warning from WHO has a lot of basis as we have seen many countries loosen their lockdowns. Hence, if we do not follow the SOP, we will see an increase in cases,” said Dr Noor Hisham during his daily press briefing on Covid-19 today.

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“We can avoid this huge tsunami of cases if we follow the SOP that we have in place which is keeping a one-metre distance from one another, sticking to the 3Cs (avoid crowded places, close conversations and confined places) and 3Ws (wash, wear a face mask and heed warnings).”

Furthermore, with Hari Raya Aidilfitri festivities just over, Dr Noor Hisham said the Health Ministry (MOH) will know in two weeks’ time if loosening the MCO to a conditional movement control order (CMCO) has worked by monitoring the number of daily Covid-19 cases reported.

He, however, said MOH modelling shows that adhering to the SOP has managed to bring down the number of cases.

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“Today, we had 15 cases of which six were imported, which means nine of those were local transmissions. So we managed to bring it down not only to double digits but single digits.

“More importantly is sustainability. We want to empower the community and that’s why we moved from the MCO to the CMCO,” added Dr Noor Hisham.

“But social responsibility is important. If the community can continue to comply with the SOP given, rest assured we can reduce cases.

“If not, we will see cases rise over a period of time.”