In a press conference, he said it was apparent that there has been a spike in cases after interstate travel restrictions were loosened on Dec 7, adding that there was a lack of SOP compliance.

“In the next one or two weeks after the New Year, we expect the number infections to rise further. So, we must come up with new strategies, and this will be discussed with the National Security Council (NSC) before implementation,” he said.

He said the health ministry was in the midst of reviewing its public health strategies as the current infection rate has not come down, although the ministry has succeeded in keeping it from skyrocketing.

Asked if the health ministry would push for the reimplementation of a movement control order (MCO), he maintained that the past year has taught everyone that there was no one-size-fits-all solution.

He said a more targeted and localised approach would be better, particularly since the government still needed to strike a balance between the lives and livelihoods of Malaysians.

“We may consider red and green states differently in terms of our strategy, instead of implementing something across the whole nation. So we are trying to finalise these in terms of implementation.

“We are looking at different strategies now and discussions are ongoing. We will need MKN to make a decision and take action as soon as possible so that we can manage the situation better,” he said.

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