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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia announced that it will ease COVID-19 restrictions and reinstate the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) for Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Penang.
Making the announcement during a press conference on Tuesday (March 2), Chief Security Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that these areas, originally under the Movement Control Order (MCO), will be placed under CMCO from the March 5 to March 18.
Additionally, Malaysia will relax COVID-19 restrictions for other areas of the country, with Melaka, Pahang, Sabah, Terengganu, as well as Putrajaya and Labuan federal territories under the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO). These areas were previously under CMCO.
Meanwhile, the states of Kedah, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Sarawak and Perak will remain under CMCO.
Ismail Sabri, who is also Defense Minister, said the decision was made due to the reduction in cluster, sporadic and community cases, as well as the improvement in Malaysia’s infectivity rate.
He added that interdistrict travel would now be allowed in all states except Sabah. Interstate travel is still prohibited.
Ismail Sabri also added that more businesses in the tourism sector would now be allowed to operate, such as zoos, farms, aquariums, educational entertainment centers, museums and cultural centers, as well as spas and massage centers.
Earlier this year, every state in the country except Sarawak was placed under the MCO in response to an increase in COVID-19 cases.
Most states transitioned to CMCO in mid-February, with Perlis under the recovery motion control order through March 4.
Sarawak, as previously announced, is under CMCO until March 15.
READ: FOCUS – After dealing with COVID-19 for over a year, is Malaysia finally turning the corner?
MCO 2.0, as it is widely known, is a relaxed version of the first MCO implemented in March of last year.
The first MCO saw almost all economic activities ceased, except for essential services such as food and beverage outlets and pharmacies.
In contrast, with OLS 2.0, more economic sectors are allowed to function to balance between saving lives and maintaining livelihoods.
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.
However, the COVID-19 infectivity rate, or R-nada (R0), has been trending down over the past month.
Malaysia also launched its national COVID-19 immunization program on February 24. Its goal is to immunize 80 percent of its 32 million inhabitants in one year to achieve herd immunity.
On Monday, Malaysia recorded 1,828 new cases of COVID-19.
So far, Malaysia has reported a cumulative count of 302,580 infections and 1,135 deaths.
There are currently 25,542 active cases, with 198 patients in intensive care and 90 people requiring respiratory assistance.
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