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KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia is taking a stricter approach to ensuring compliance with its coronavirus lockdown, even as it imposes stricter measures for the Chinese New Year that will restrict reunion dinners only to family members living in the same house .
Chief Security Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced the stricter protocols for the holiday period in his daily briefing on Covid-19 on Thursday (February 4). Prayers are also not allowed in temples, except for five of the temple committee members, he said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin vowed to step up enforcement, warning that companies that don’t adhere to strict health guidelines could be shut down.
The military, which has been helping police control roadblocks in the ongoing Movement Control Order (MCO), will have powers to make arrests, it said in a pre-recorded message broadcast on television and on social media.
“To strengthen the government’s enforcement capabilities in the fight against Covid-19, I issued an order under the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance 2021 to grant police powers to the Malaysian Armed Forces to conduct arrests, inspections and seizures while helping other agencies to carry out operations against illegal immigrants and Covid-19, ”he said.
The government plans to amend the laws to increase fines for MCO repeat offenders and incarcerate them for certain crimes, he said.
Under the state of emergency that was declared last month (January), the government can modify existing laws with the approval of the King, when Parliament is suspended.
“The Technical Committee for Emergency Management has studied the provisions of the Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control Act of 1988, or Act 342, which need to be amended for stricter and faster action,” said the prime minister.
Typically dozens of people are arrested and fined on a daily basis, mainly at roadblocks and when authorities carry out random checks on commercial premises.
“Compliance with SOPs in workplaces, worker accommodation, and business facilities is critical for us to break the chain of Covid-19 infections. Enforcement measures should be intensified to ensure compliance with standard operating procedures. “
Tan Sri Muhyiddin in his speech tried to allay concerns about rising infections in the country, saying that 500,000 frontline people will start receiving vaccinations at the end of February.
This exercise is expected to end in April, when the second phase of vaccination will begin. This is estimated to involve 9.4 million people from high-risk groups, including those over the age of 60, and with health problems such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
Adults over the age of 18 are expected to receive their vaccinations from May 2021 through February 2022.
Malaysia has signed agreements with Covax, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Sinovac, CanSino, and Gamaleya to ensure Covid-19 vaccines for 83 percent of its 32 million people, in the country’s largest vaccination program.
The prime minister also shared a ray of good news as much of the country entered its fourth week of a six-week OLS, saying the curve was flattening out in several states.
“The application of the MCO has had a positive effect in some states such as Kelantan, Kedah, Terengganu and Pahang, which have started to show a trend of daily cases that is becoming flatter,” he said.
But he noted that the number of infections continued to rise in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Johor.
Muhyiddin spoke in detail about responses to the pandemic following mounting public pressure on rising Covid-19 cases, even as the government has kept most businesses open, including the recent authorization to pass malam (night markets ) to operate again.
Confirming a Straits Times report, companies such as car wash operators along with barbers and hair salons will also be able to resume activity now, said Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri.
The government has defended its actions to allow most economic activities to remain open by saying that the country cannot afford to further damage the economy and people’s livelihoods, and will instead break the whip against those who violated the health protocols.
Daily cases in Malaysia mostly stayed above 3,000 a day in the past three weeks and hit a record 5,728 on Saturday.
The country recorded 4,571 cases on Thursday to bring the cumulative total to 231,483, with 17 more deaths to bring the total deaths from Covid-19 to 826.
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