CMCO may end early if red zones turn green in next two weeks, suggests Dr Noor Hisham

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 — Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today that if the majority of districts that have been classified as red zones turn green within the next two weeks, the conditional movement control order (CMCO) may be rescinded early.

In a press conference today, Dr Noor Hisham added that the majority of the red zones are located in Klang Valley, Negri Sembilan, Perak and Penang, and these are being watched carefully as the states registered a consistent rise in Covid-19 cases.

“Our focus is on these states. If there is a drop in new Covid-19 cases in these areas, and they slowly turn from red zones to green zones in the next two weeks, we may lift the CMCO earlier than the four weeks we implemented,” said Dr Noor Hisham.

This comes as Dr Noor Hisham reminded Malaysians yesterday that the chain of Covid-19 infections in Malaysia could be broken if everyone stayed home for two weeks.

Dr Noor Hisham pointed out that the CMCO has reduced the Covid-19 infectivity rate in Malaysia, or the R0 or R-naught, from 2.2 on September 20 to below 1.0 yesterday.

On November 7, Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said all states in Peninsular Malaysia, except for Perlis, Pahang and Kelantan, will be placed under the conditional movement control order (CMCO) for four weeks from November 9 to December 6.

Ismail said the decision was made after a meeting with the Ministry of Health following a rise in Covid-19 cases.

Today, Malaysia recorded 869 new Covid-19 cases and six new deaths.