PUTRAJAYA: A movement control order (MCO) in six Malaysian states and federal territories which was to expire on Jan 26 is to be extended to Feb 4, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said on Thursday (Jan 21).
The affected areas are the states of Penang, Selangor, Johor, Sabah, Malacca and Kelantan, and the federal territories of Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur and Labuan.
The decision was made based on the risk assessment and advice of the health ministry after finding that daily COVID-19 cases were still on the rise in the states, Ismail Sabri said.
Following the extension, the period of the MCO enforced on all states has now been standardised, he said in a press conference on MCO development.
On Tuesday, Ismail Sabri announced that six states in Malaysia would be placed under the MCO from Friday.
The six states are Kedah, Perak, Pahang, Terengganu, Perlis and Negeri Sembilan. The measure would be in effect until Feb 4.
A nationwide state of emergency, which is effective from Jan 11 to Aug 1, was declared by the king last week to curb the spread of COVID-19.
KUALA LUMPUR RECORDS MOST NUMBER OF NEW CASES
On Thursday, Malaysia reported 3,170 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country's total to 172,549, of which 41,755 are active cases.
The capital Kuala Lumpur recorded the highest number of infections at 576.
The state of Selangor reported 545, Johor counted 423, and the eastern state of Sabah recorded 401 new cases.
A total of 12 fatalities were also reported on Thursday, authorities said with all of them being Malaysians aged between 47 and 84 and with a history of various illnesses.
This took the death toll in the country to 642.
EATERIES, FOOD DELIVERY SERVICES EXTENDED TO 10PM
The government has agreed to allow eateries and food delivery services in states that come under the MCO to operate until 10pm from Friday, Ismail Sabri said.
The government took the step in heeding feedback from consumers and traders that the operation hours allowed, that is from 6am to 8pm, was not suitable, he added.
“Like I have said, the government always listens to the people's views. We were aware of the many complaints (on this) and so we quickly held meetings since last week to deliberate on it,” the minister said.
He pointed out however that standard operating procedures still apply, whereby dining-in would not be allowed and that only take-away, delivery and drive-through orders were permitted.
Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/malaysia-covid-19-mco-until-feb-4-14013064