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"Green states" declared soon?

Apr 17, 2020

Movement restrictions could be relaxed in states or districts that don’t report any new Covid-19 cases for two weeks. 

This, after Perlis, Kedah and Penang recorded zero new cases in the last couple of days. 

Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, however, says we first need to be sure that these states are truly in the clear before any restrictions are eased: 

"What’s more important is that we need to wait for the incubation period of about 14 days before we can say that they are clean. If within 14 days there are no cases being reported, then we can consider those states ‘green states’."

Currently, the highest concentration of Covid-19 cases remains in the central region, which includes Selangor, KL and Negeri Sembilan.

Meanwhile, a total of 42 cases have now been reported in Kota Kinabalu, making it the second red zone in Sabah after Tawau.

In another development, Datuk Dr Noor Hisham says they’ve managed to find a reliable antigen test kit from South Korea, with a sensitivity rate of over 84 percent.

Supplies could arrive here as early as next week, allowing testing to be done at the point of care. 

Separately, Dr Noor Hisham has played down the recognition given to him by a Chinese TV network, that named him among the top three doctors in the world for their handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

He says praise should instead be directed at the country’s top leadership and our frontliners, for all of their hard work.