PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry expects the number of new Covid-19 cases to breach 5,000 daily by the end of May – unless Malaysians do their part and break the chain of infection.

"It can even increase to over 5,000 – maybe 6,000 or even 7,000 cases.

"It all depends on us to break the chain of infection and take drastic action to stop the spread of the coronavirus," Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press conference on Saturday (May 8).

He said the current spike in cases was not considered a fourth wave, but a continuation of the third wave, even taking into account the emergence of new virus variants here.

"It is also too early to depend on vaccination to control Covid-19. People must continue to practise public health measures such as physical distancing, frequently washing their hands and wearing face masks," he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said there appeared to be fatigue among the rakyat about the pandemic.

"I know Malaysians are getting tired – the same for our frontliners.

"But we have to live with this virus and whether we can do this or not depends on our ability to follow standard operating procedures to guard against infections," he said.

He stressed the need to adapt to new developments and any spikes in cases.

"Currently, the virus is adapting faster to us and infecting more.

"It is not too late – we have not failed but we have not yet won.

"We have fought for the last 16 months and will need everybody's collaboration," he said, warning against complacency among the people.

"When we succeed in reducing cases, it breeds complacency. Complacency then breeds failure. So, I hope we will not go down that road in these difficult times," he said.