malaysia covid-19 MCO vaccine

Malaysia extends MCO 2.0

On the 2nd of February, the Malaysian government announced that it would extend the Movement Control Order (MCO) in force over most of the country till February 18 to control the spread of COVID-19.

The Defence Minister is currently the Chairman of the Government Covid-19 Committee. The committee coordinates the implementation of COVID-19 restrictions in Malaysia.

“Risk assessments carried out by the Health Ministry found daily cases in all states showed an upward trend with increasing case numbers, with high numbers of sporadic infections within the community among both locals and non-Malaysians.

“Therefore the National Security Council during its meeting today agreed to extend the MCO 2.0 enforced across the country from February 5 to February 18,” he said

Ismail also said that the NSC had outlined ten strategies to tackle the worsening situation. These include stricter laws approved under the seven-month-long emergency that began on Jan 11, more aggressive enforcement activities, more stringent screening and pursuing a national vaccination programme.

He also said that the NSC would issue new standard operating procedures (SOP) for the movement control in due time.

Only several Sarawak districts will continue to be under a less restrictive conditional movement control.

The rest of the country has been under more stringent regulations since Jan 13.

MCO 2.0 will hamper CNY celebrations

The extension will limit celebrations for Chinese New Year. The government will only announce specific rules a few days before the festival on Feb 12.

Ismail also said the authorities will still not allow interstate travel. This restriction is due to the large number of case clusters linked to interstate travel. However, more economic activities will open up. The details of the types of economic activities will come later today.

The senior minister said the government would still be considering requests from businesses to resume operations. Some business owners had to cease operations when the second MCO was imposed. The daily Covid-19 infections persisted in the four-digits for nearly two months, thus reimposing the movement control.

“We are giving more leeway to economic sectors. Small businesses because we understand a full lockdown will be most difficult for the poorest,” he said.

KJ says vaccine on the way

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, who co-chairs Malaysia’s Covid-19 vaccine committee, has said the vaccines “will be delivered on schedule beginning this month”.

Previous reports state that the govt will begin vaccine distribution on the 26th of February.

Malaysia has purchased 12.8 million doses of the vaccine in November. The vaccine is from Pfizer/Biotech. Under the deal, Malaysia will receive the vaccine in batches per quarter.

Despite the sad news of the MCO extension, many Malaysians are looking forward to receiving the vaccine.

Visit the link here for more information on Malaysia’s Covid-19 situation.

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