Unlike me in school, the coronavirus doesn’t give up easily.
Time and time again, we’ve seen countries who had declared victory over Covid-19 grapple with new waves of infections soon after.
New Zealand, for instance, said they were “coronavirus-free” not too long ago, but have reported several new infections daily in the past few weeks.
As I said, the coronavirus is a stubborn bastard.
And if the coronavirus isn’t going anywhere, that means Covid-19 restrictions are here to stay.
M’sia Health Minister Suggests Extending Their RMCO Beyond 31 Aug As The Pandemic Doesn’t Seem to Stop
Malaysia’s health ministry has advised the National Security Council (NSC) and the Prime Minister to extend the country’s Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) due to a warning by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Malaysia first implemented its MCO on 18 March when infections in the country were increasing at an alarming rate.
Just like Singapore’s circuit breaker, Malaysia exited their lockdown in phases. They first entered a Conditional MCO, before shifting to a Recovery MCO on 10 June.
In it, nearly all social, educational, religious, and economic activities reopened, with safe distancing measures in place.
The RMCO was supposed to end on 31 August, but after the WHO’s forecast that the Covid-19 outbreak may last for at least two years, Malaysia’s health ministry is having second thoughts.
“For the RMCO which will end on Aug 31, the health ministry has made a recommendation to the MKN and also to the Prime Minister for it to continue until the situation is under control. So it is up to the Prime Minister to announce it in the near future”, said Health Minister Dr Adham Baba.
Dr Adham noted that while other countries are struggling with a surge in coronavirus cases, Malaysia is strengthening its border control measures, to prevent an influx of imported cases.
Whether the RMCO will be extended, however, is not known at the moment. If Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is anything like PM Lee, he will pick out the pinkest shirt in his wardrobe and announce the extension a couple of weeks before the RMCO is scheduled to end.
New Covid-19 Clusters Detected
Another reason to extend the RMCO, as The Star reported, is that the country has seen new clusters crop up in several states.
One of the biggest active clusters is the Tawar cluster in Kedah with 65 cases, which many experts argue arose due to complacency.
Malaysia reported 10 new infections on 23 Aug, bringing its tally to 9,267.
Given that a coronavirus vaccine is still a long way away, the health ministry’s advice might just be worth taking.
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