[ad_1]
KUALA LUMPUR – Every Christmas, Mr. Euphraim Yuvaraj travels to visit his grandmother and other relatives in Taiping, Perak, about 250 km north of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.
It won’t make the three-hour trip this year, despite travel restrictions being lifted in most of peninsular Malaysia in time for the Christmas celebrations.
Interstate and interdistrict travel has been allowed in much of the country since December 7, but Euphraim, 33, remains very concerned about the Covid-19 situation.
The pandemic has shown no signs of abating in Malaysia despite the partial lockdown imposed on much of the Klang Valley, the country’s largest urban region, including Kuala Lumpur, from mid-October to early December.
Christmas will be the first major religious festival that will not be subject to travel restrictions since the government imposed the Movement Control Order (MCO) in response to the pandemic in mid-March.
The country, where Muslims make up the majority of the population, was still under relatively tight closure during Hari Raya Aidilfitri in May. Much of the Klang Valley was under partial blockade during the Hindu festival, Deepavali, in November.
Euphraim often travels with his family, which now includes a young daughter, to celebrate both Deepavali and Christmas in Taiping, but has chosen not to do so this year due to the large number of Covid-19 cases.
“We see cases that exceed 2,000 every day, and I don’t want to risk having a young daughter. We will stay here and celebrate only with the immediate family,” he said, adding that he would not have visitors either. to his home in Puchong, a large suburb in Selangor state.
Malaysia is currently in the midst of a third wave of infections that began in late September, triggered by the legislative elections in the state of Sabah. Many of those who traveled to the eastern Malaysian state to campaign or vote returned to the peninsula and spread the virus. Since then, the country has consistently recorded thousands of daily cases and the numbers have shown no signs of abating.
Similar concerns have also discouraged IT executive Evelyn Baskaradas from traveling anywhere to celebrate Christmas. He said he has frequently traveled between states in the past over the Christmas holidays.
“We will have a limited and informal family group this year, as everyone is equally cautious. We will not invite anyone,” Ms. Evelyn said.
In the two weeks since the travel restrictions were lifted, Malaysia recorded a daily count of more than 2,000 cases on three occasions, including Monday (December 21) and Tuesday. The country has registered a thousand cases for all but one day since December 7. On Wednesday, 1,348 new cases were registered, bringing the number of active cases to 18,279, an all-time high.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced that the government was on track to procure vaccines for at least 83 percent of the population. The first batch is expected to arrive in February and Tan Sri Muhyiddin has said that he will be among the first to be vaccinated to convince people that the vaccine obtained is safe and effective.
[ad_2]
