Speaking to FMT, he said the decline in the infectivity rate, or R0, to just below 1.0 did not mean that the lockdown can be loosened and SOPs disregarded.

“We are not out of the woods yet. R0 is only the rate. Cases are still high. We need to continue to self-lockdown and break the chain of transmission.

“If all of us can comply with the self-lockdown, we’ll be able to bring the number of cases down faster,” he said.

He was commenting on Bersatu information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan saying that the decline in Covid-19 cases and the national infectivity rate were indications that the total lockdown was working.

There were 5,271 new cases detected in the last 24 hours, marking it the fourth straight day of decline. Meanwhile, the R0 fell to 0.99 compared with 1.0 the day before.

Wan Saiful said this development disproved assertions that the government did not have a sound plan, adding that this data showed Putrajaya’s decisions were bearing fruit.

Former health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad had also said earlier that Malaysians should not let their guard down and urged for mass screenings to be stepped up to further bring down the number of cases.

Former prime minister Najib Razak had also warned against any early celebrations over the falling number of cases nationwide, saying the number of screenings was usually lower on the weekend.

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