Malaysia will review its Covid-19 protocols following a drastic spike in cases over the past two weeks, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said yesterday.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin said in a statement that the government will re-evaluate the current curbs, especially in areas that have been badly hit by the recent spikes.
There have been sharp spikes recorded in the federal territory of Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia's most developed state Selangor in recent days.
"This evaluation is important to ensure that the standard operating procedure (SOP) that is in place is effective to deal with the Covid-19 spread that is increasing in our country and also across the world," Mr Muhyiddin said.
He said his administration is already using an early hot spot system to identify premises and areas that are contributing to the rise in coronavirus cases.
"I urge the public to always adhere to SOPs and avoid being in crowded places to protect themselves, their families and the community from Covid-19," the Prime Minister said.
Separately, Health Minister Adham Baba told the New Straits Times newspaper that his ministry has submitted to the National Security Council a proposal for the first-tier movement control order (MCO) to be imposed in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor, Kedah and Sarawak.
Malaysia on Friday logged 3,788 new Covid-19 infections, the highest in 2½ months. This came just one month after new cases dropped to this year's low of 941 infections, on March 29.
Coronavirus cases in the country have been rising consistently since breaching the 2,000 daily case mark on April 15.
Active infections, meanwhile, have almost doubled since mid-April, climbing from 15,000 cases to almost 30,000 on Friday.
Malaysia yesterday logged 2,881 new Covid-19 cases to raise the cumulative total to 411,594.
The country has, since late January, been in a state of emergency which the government said will help it deal with the pandemic. The state of emergency will last until Aug 1.
Much of Malaysia was under the top-tiered MCO between January and February this year.
Restrictions have been gradually lifted since then as concerns mount over the weak economy and job losses.
A nationwide interstate travel ban has been retained.
Only the north-eastern state of Kelantan remains under the MCO, while several other states are in the mid-tier conditional MCO.
