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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia announced on Tuesday (February 16) that the movement control order (MCO) will be extended to the states of Selangor, Johor and Penang, as well as the federal territory of Kuala Lumpur until March 4.
Meanwhile, it will relax COVID-19 restrictions for most areas of the country, with the conditional movement control order (CMCO) reinstated for Kedah, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Terengganu, Kelantan, Melaka, Pahang and Sabah as well. like the federal territories. from Putrajaya and Labuan.
The northern state of Perlis will be placed under the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO), Chief Security Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said at a press conference.
These will be implemented from February 19 to March 4.
Ismail Sabri, who is also a defense minister, said that people can now travel more than 10 kilometers from their homes, even in areas under MCO.
However, interstate and interdistrict travel is not yet allowed, he said.
READ: PM Muhyiddin and avant-garde will be the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Malaysia; National launch begins February 26
During the press conference, Ismail Sabri urged Malaysian residents to adhere to standard operating procedures (SOPs) to curb the spread of COVID-19, although restrictions will be eased in some places.
“We do not want to have more new cases when RMCO and CMCO are implemented. We need to flatten the curve together and ease the pressure on medical care. Breaking the chain of infection is very important. Avoid leaving home unless necessary,” he added. .
Earlier this year, every state in the country except Sarawak was placed under the MCO until February 18 in response to an increase in COVID-19 cases.
Sarawak was subsequently placed under CMCO from February 15 to March 1.
When Malaysia first joined the MCO in March last year, almost all economic activities ceased, except for essential services, such as food and beverage outlets and pharmacies.
The lockdown caused the country to reduce its COVID-19 cases to single digits in the first half of 2020. MCO was replaced by CMCO and the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO), while localized restrictions were introduced in areas with an increase in cases.
Instead, this current MCO, called “MCO 2.0”, has allowed more economic sectors to continue operating, such as the automotive and retailers such as gold and jewelry stores.
Since MCO 2.0 was implemented in January, Malaysia has continued to fight a sharp increase in infections and has consistently reported daily four-digit increases in COVID-19 cases.
On Monday, Malaysia recorded 2,176 new cases of COVID-19, the lowest number of daily infections recorded in the past 30 days.
So far, Malaysia has reported a cumulative count of 266,445 infections and 975 deaths.
There are currently 47,135 active cases, with 260 patients in intensive care and 112 people requiring respiratory assistance.
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