Covid-19 curve can be flattened in three to four months if all follow SOP, says Health DG

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia may be able to flatten the Covid-19 curve in three to four months but this will require cooperation from the public to adhere to the standard operating procedures (SOP), says Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

The Health director-general said an accelerated vaccination drive would also be vital to slow down the infection curve.

He said with the rise of new variants of concern (VOC), the two-week total lockdown starting Tuesday (Jun 1), was necessary to reduce the number of cases and give frontliners much needed breathing room.

He added it was a cause for concern that the Health Ministry has recently received information from Vietnam, which had detected a new VOC, a hybrid of the Indian and United Kingdom variants.

“The new variants are concerning as they cause more infections and deaths.

“We must ramp up vaccinations and in June, we will be able to use over 10 million doses, this is necessary for us to do.

“Our behaviour is the first line of defence and if we can increase vaccination rates, that will increase our protection against the virus.

“We have to use the strategy of combining public safety and increasing vaccination rates, and with this, we might be able to flatten the curve in three to four months,” he said in a joint press conference on Sunday (May 30) with Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.