Malaysia will not rush to reopen the country's borders, Malaysia's Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in a televised address on Wednesday, Sep. 16, The Star reported.

Covid-19 to continue for a long while

Muhyiddin said the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is expected to continue for quite a long time, and that certain countries are still having difficulty containing the pandemic or preventing the resurgence of cases.

Should Malaysia let its guard down, the same can happen in the country too, he said.

While he noted that the closure of borders had brought inconvenience and troubles to certain groups of people, he said: "We must strike a fine balance between protecting lives and the livelihoods of all Malaysians."

He also urged Malaysians to remain vigilant and continue practising good safety habits such as the wearing of masks.

Muhyiddin also expressed concern at the uptick in new Covid-19 cases in the country, noting that 615 cases have been recorded over the past two weeks.

He singled out three districts -- Kota Setar in Kedah, as well as Tawau and Lahad Datu in Sabah -- which recorded 41 case or more in the last 14 days.

Lockdown measures might have to be reintroduced

If the number of cases continue to rise sharply, the country would have to reintroduce the movement control order (MCO) again, he said.

Introduced on March 18 to control the spread of Covid-19, Malaysia has since entered a recovery phase of the MCO on June 10.

Malaysia has 11 active clusters out of 108 that were reported.

Previously, Malaysia's Health Minister said the country is looking at possibly fully reopening the border with Singapore in January 2021, although he also noted that the country must strike a balance between the economy and health.

Totally unrelated but follow and listen to our podcast here

Top image via Alex Block/Unsplash