By Athirah Mohammad
GOMBAK, 12 January 2021: Malaysias Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today unveiled tougher measures to stem the spread of COVID-19 infections.
This includes the implementation of full movement control order (MCO) on five states and the federal territories.
The affected states are Selangor, Johor, Penang, Melaka, Sabah, and the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan while six other states of Pahang, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Kelantan and Terengganu and Kedah will be under the conditional movement control order (CMCO) but with stricter rules than the existing ones.
Perlis and Sarawak are the only two states that will continue to observe the recovery movement control order (RMCO).
In announcing this, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the MCO would be in effect for two weeks beginning midnight Wednesday until 26 January.
“According to the Health Ministry’s projection, the MCO could help reduce daily COVID-19 cases by 80 per cent, he added.
“The Health Ministry will make continuous assessments to determine whether the MCO will be extended before the end of these two weeks.”
Speaking during a special broadcast over television today, the Prime Minister also said that interstate travel will not be allowed during this period for the whole country.
Apart from that, those under MCO are not allowed to travel further than 10 kilometers from home and only two from a household are permitted to leave the house for provisions like buying necessities from supermarkets or grocery shops.
Eateries and restaurants in areas under MCO will continue to operate for takeaways only, while states under the Conditional MCO and Recovery MCO can open based on existing standard operating procedures (SOP), the Prime Minister said.
He added, “Any individuals who violate the restrictions can be issued a compound up to a maximum of RM1,000.” ***