By Adrian Lim
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11: The federal government will reimpose the Movement Control Order (MCO) in six states in an effort to curb a resurgence of Covid-19 cases in the country.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the MCO will be for two weeks starting from midnight January 13 until January 26 and divided into three stages of implementation.
“Firstly, MCO will be implemented for six states namely Penang, Selangor, Federal Territories (Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan), Johor, Melaka and Sabah.
“Secondly, Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) (will be implemented) for six states namely Pahang, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Terengganu and Kelantan.
“Thirdly, Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) will be implemented for Perlis and Sarawak throughout the period,” he said during a special address which was broadcast live to the nation earlier today.
Muhyiddin said the states which be under MCO are those with high risk of Covid-19 transmission as well as where healthcare services have almost reached maximum capacity.
He explained that the Health Ministry will be assessing the risk continuously to determine whether MCO will be continued or ended after the two-week period.
Social activities such as wedding ceremonies, conferences, religious processions such as for Thaipusam, meetings, seminars, courses and sports activities which involved groups were not allowed in states under MCO.
Inter-state travel and inter-district travel are also not allowed throughout the country these next two weeks.
Muhyiddin stressed that roadblocks will be conducted effective from midnight January 13.
Nonetheless, he added, the government has identified five sectors of the economy which have been classified as essential economic sectors, which are manufacturing, construction, services, trading and distribution, and agriculture and commodities.
He explained that those sectors are allowed to operate because they supply essential goods such as food, personal protective equipment (PPE) and medicine to healthcare workers.
Earlier, Muhyiddin noted the Covid-19 situation in Malaysia is very alarming and that the country’s healthcare system has been under tremendous pressure since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Muhyiddin said the health facilities at the Health Ministry were unable to cope with the increase of 2,000 new cases of Covid-19 every day.
He added that the country’s healthcare system was at breaking point and that 15 designated Covid-19 hospitals in the country have recorded the usage of hospital beds of more than 70 per cent.
He noted the usage of beds in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Kuala Lumpur Hospital and Universiti Malaya Medical Centre have reached 100 per cent while usage of beds in the Sungai Buloh Hospital ICU has reached 83 per cent.
Muhyiddin also said the usage of hospital beds in ICU for Covid-19 patients in five states namely Perak, Selangor, Melaka, Terengganu and Sarawak have reached more than 70 per cent. — DayakDaily
