If anything, the former health minister said, the country must step up mass screening efforts to bring down the number of infections further.

“The authorities and the citizens must work together to win this war (against Covid-19),” he told FMT.

Dzulkefly also explained that the mass screenings in Selangor had a positivity rate of around 3.5%, which represented a small fraction of daily cases in the state.

He said that of the 100,000 people screened in 46 constituencies, some 3,000 were found positive. Today’s screening in Jeram identified 12 positive cases out of 900 individuals.

“Selangor had over 2,000 cases per day and today, around 1,000. From that trajectory, it is hard to predict anything but because of our aggressive mass testing, I am quite hopeful the dwindling trend will continue,” he said.

Meanwhile, former prime minister Najib Razak also warned against any early celebrations of the falling number of cases nationwide.

Noting that the third movement control order was due to end today, Najib questioned if the total lockdown could successfully reduce the number of infections to a point where it was safe for the economy to reopen soon.

“We should not be too happy with the 5,271 (cases) today because it is still a high figure and it is based on screenings yesterday.

“The number of screenings is usually lower on a Saturday and Sunday,” he said in a Facebook post.

The health ministry reported 5,271 Covid-19 cases today, largely driven by Selangor’s relatively low number of 1,374.

It was the lowest daily number of cases in the state since May 16, when it had 1,275 infections. Since then, the numbers have been above 2,000 and even 3,000.

Bersatu information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan has claimed that the fall in number of cases today showed that the “total lockdown” now is working.

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