Malaysia government will close most factories and shopping centers during a two-week total lockdown starting June 1.
During the lockdown, people’s movements are restricted. Each resident is only allowed to travel within a radius of 10 kilometers from their respective residences.
In each house, only two family members can travel for essential things. It’s including shopping for necessities, medical treatment, and banking matters.
Sectors Permitted to Operate
Malaysia’s Senior Security Minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, said there were only 17 essential sectors that were allowed to operate.
The dozens of sectors include the food and beverage industry, transportation, banking, e-commerce, media, telecommunications, and postal services as well as shipping services.
Even so, the 17 main sectors are still limited in operation, starting from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm.
Restaurant and cafe businesses also operate with strict restrictions, which are only allowed to serve delivery orders and take-out orders.
Meanwhile, most of the manufacturing plants will close, except for factories that produce basic necessities such as food and medicines. However, the operations of these factories are still limited to only 60 percent of the total capacity.
This strict rule is implemented because workplaces including factories have become one of the largest clusters of Covid-19 transmission in the neighboring country in recent times.
Ismail also said the government would tighten travel permits between districts and between states for every citizen. Travel permits will only be issued by the relevant ministry for citizens working in essential sectors.
“Even so, there is no curfew. But we hope that no community will be outside after 8pm because there is no economic activity after that hour,” Ismail said during a meeting with Health Minister Noor Hisham Abdullah as quoted by The Straits Times.
Malaysia Lockdown Can Reduce the Spread of Covid-19
Ismail believes that this strict policy can reduce the number of people who have outdoor activities. Which from 15 million people to only 1.5 million people.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s government has again implemented a strict national lockdown after setting a record for daily coronavirus infections in the past week.
On Sunday (30/5), Malaysia recorded 6,999 new cases of infection with 79 deaths a day. Even though it was down from a few days earlier, active corona cases continued to increase in the neighboring country.
On Thursday last week, Malaysia recorded a record of transmission of the corona virus infection which reached 7,857 cases with 59 deaths a day.
It is the third day in a row that Malaysia has recorded a record daily Covid-19 infection exceeding 7,000 cases.
This number makes Malaysia the country with the highest daily corona cases in Southeast Asia at this time, beating Indonesia and the Philippines which often recorded the highest daily corona transmission rates.
