Health minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said existing Covid-19 protocols were currently under review for long-term management of the pandemic in light of the World Health Organization’s declaration that the disease is no longer considered a public health emergency.

Existing Covid-19 prevention and control measures would remain in place until the review is completed, she said in a statement today.

“The Covid-19 infection risk assessment for Malaysia is expected to take place in mid-June to review the infection area declaration and to decide the way forward,” she said.

Current rules on Covid-19 are enforced through a declaration of Malaysia as an infected area under the Prevention of Infectious Diseases Act. The declaration has been extended several times since March 2020 and is currently valid for the period from Jan 1 to June 30.

The declaration empowers the government to take measures to isolate Covid-19 cases in places other than hospitals, and to require employers to bear the cost of their workers’ Covid-19 tests and treatment.

More than 37,000 people have died of the disease in Malaysia since 2020, while 5 million have recovered from Covid-19 infections. More than 27 million have received two doses of anti-Covid vaccine.

However, the number of cases last week rose by 53.1% to 7,596, while there was also an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases and suspected cases reported at public health facilities.

The disease has killed more than 6.9 million people across the world since the Covid-19 outbreak was declared an international public health emergency in January 2020.

Three days ago, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that Covid-19 no longer represents a global health emergency.