While wearing a mask has become the norm, it’s common to see Malaysians wearing it in the public and many supermarkets are imposing the rule ‘no mask no entry’. Since Covid 19 is spread by droplet, not airborne transmission, face masks work by stopping infected droplets spewing from the wearer’s nose or mouth. Experts have advised that if everyone wears a mask, the asymptomatic patient may be less likely to spread the disease to others.
With the end of the first phase of the MCO, Health Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah has expressed hope that the number of Covid-19 cases so far has shown that the restrictions have helped.
“If you look at this graph by the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) there used to be a drastic curve which showed a huge spike in cases,” he said during his daily Covid-19 briefing at Putrajaya. “However if you look at it now, the curves flatten which shows early signs of our efforts in calling the MCO has reduced cases.”
Despite the good news, Dr Noor Hisham pleaded with Malaysians to continue abiding by the MCO until Apr 14th. Separately, he also highlighted that Malaysia reported its highest number of daily recoveries—108 cases—on Wednesday, bringing the total number of recoveries to 645.
The country's current recovery rate is 22 percent, he added.
Pictures via ‘Workers wearing protective suits pray before a disinfection operation in Kuala Lumpur’ Reuters
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