Still unexplained
The hunt for the origins of Covid-19 has for the past four years been a tangled web of politics, power struggles, and international finger-pointing.
Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced on Friday that a large portion of economic and social activities will reopen following the recent decline of the COVID-19 cases in the country.
In a televised address to the nation, Yasin said that economic, social and religious activities involved large gatherings and close contact were still not allowed, and all schools will remain closed for the time being.
The Prime Minister said South-east Asia’s third biggest economy suffered RM2.4 billion (S$800 million) in losses daily during the MCO, with total losses currently estimated at RM63 billion. And another RM35 billion will have to be added to this should the MCO be extended.
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“I realise you are all worried. I am worried too, and in some nations too, when the lockdown ended, the number of Covid-19 positive cases increased exponentially”, he added,
Malaysia first imposed the movement control order (MCO) on March 18.
According to the Health Ministry’s director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, the country is now in a “recovery phase” of the outbreak as recovered patients have outnumbered new cases.
However, sports activities like outdoor badminton, tennis, jogging, cycling, golf and running in small groups of not more than 10 are permitted.
Restaurants are also allowed to operate but maintaining physical distancing is required.
Travel between Malaysia’s 13 states is barred except for work purposes.
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