KUALA LUMPUR (April 30): Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin's scheduled public address tomorrow —his second in a week — has given rise to hope among Malaysians that the movement control order (MCO) that has been put in place since March 18, will be relaxed.

Muhyiddin, who last addressed Malaysians on the eve of Ramadhan on April 23, will go on live TV at 11am tomorrow (May 1), in conjunction with the Labour Day.

Business owners outside of the essential services sectors are hoping they will get the greenlight to begin operations under a new set of standard of procedures (SOPs), following over one month of no revenue amid the partial lockdown.

This expectation was fuelled by the government's decision to allow businesses that were permitted to operate during MCO, to ramp up their operations to full capacity from yesterday.

In addition, senior minister (defence) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, in his daily press briefing today,  had said small businesses will be allowed to operate soon, and that this is among the relaxation of rules under the MCO. "We will announce this along with the standard operating procedure soon," he reportedly said, though he gave no indication of when it would be.

The general public, meanwhile — already excited that two persons from a family can now go out to purchase food or daily necessities under the MCO, as opposed to just one previously — is also expecting less restrictions on outdoor activities, and being allowed to socialise in small groups, as the Covid-19 infection curve appears to be flattening.

During his previous live telecast on April 23, Muhyiddin announced that the MCO would be extended by another two weeks till May 12. Initially supposed to end on March 31, the MCO has been extended twice before that, once to April 14, and then to April 28.

On April 24, health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said Malaysia was in the recovery phase of the Covid-19 outbreak, as the number of new daily cases continued to stay at the double-digit level that it retreated to around mid-April.

Today, Malaysia recorded 57 new Covid-19 patients — down from 94 cases yesterday.

While total cases have now breached the 6,000-mark at 6,0002, about 70% or 4,171 patients have recovered — leaving 1,729 active cases or 28.8% of the total. The coronavirus' death toll in the country stands at 102.

Stay home. Get the news from theedgemarkets.com.