KUALA LUMPUR (May 7): Although the country has started easing movement restrictions since Monday, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said it has yet to enter the "exit strategy" phase.

He said only certain economic sectors have been reopened and that border control is still being tightened up.

As such, the Ministry of Health (MoH) will continue to monitor the development of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country before proposing to the government to fully lift the MCO.

"We have not entered the exit strategy phase yet, we are still under the CMCO. So we hope we can monitor the development [of the outbreak] and see whether we can control it," Noor Hisham said during his daily COVID-19 press briefing today.

"If we can control the spread of the infection, by maintaining two-digit figures [of daily new cases] or declining number of cases, we may further open other sectors by stages," he added.

By identifying the trends of the cases through monitoring, Noor Hisham also said that he may meet with Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin within the next few days to advise him on the next appropriate action to take.

"So it depends on the number of daily cases as well as the number of active cases.

"The COVID-19 is still present in the community, and the only way for us to avoid being infected is by following the standard operating procedures (SOPs) such as social distancing, regularly washing our hands, avoiding large crowds, and wearing face masks whenever in public,"  Noor Hisham said.

"So far, it (the number of daily new cases) is still under control," he added.  

The CMCO ended almost seven weeks of restrictions on travelling, dining out and business operations in an effort to jump-start an ailing economy ravaged by the coronavirus and moves to contain its spread.

The latest movement regulations saw the reopening of almost all economic sectors. The CMCO also allows four individuals living in the same house to travel in one vehicle for important purposes as opposed to just two people during Phase Four of the MCO.

The 10km radius travel limit also no longer applies during the CMCO, but interstate travel is still prohibited.

Meanwhile, Phase 4 of the MCO is scheduled to end on Tuesday (May 12).

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