RESTRICTIONS on interstate travel will take effect at midnight and anyone planning to travel will need clearance from the police, said Abdul Hamid Bador.

The inspector-general of police said the curtailment was part of the movement control order, which takes effect from midnight.

“Anyone travelling from one state to the other will have to get clearance from the nearest police station,” he told a press conference in Bukit Aman today.

“Such travel is only for those who have important matters to attend to or for an emergency, and does not apply to travel within the Klang Valley.”

He said the police’s role during the order period is to ensure people’s movement from one state to another and that permission to travel can be granted efficiently.

“The procedure to get exemption to travel is simple. Just inform the nearest police station and they will give you a form to fill. You only need to show the form at road blocks or when police ask for them.

“We have 159 district police headquarters and hundreds of smaller stations all over the country,” he said.

He said the travel control measures are aimed at curbing the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus.

He added any individual who refused to comply with this will face action under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 and that those found in violation of the law faced two years’ jail, a fine, or both.

However, Hamid said the police did not plan to carry out road blocks at state borders at the moment.

“In this early state, we will monitor and see if people will follow (the rules). If they don’t, then sterner action will be taken,” he said.

The movement control order comes as the number of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia continue to escalate.

Today, the virus claimed its first two fatalities in the country – a 60-year-old Sarawakian pastor and a 34-year-old tabligh attendee.

The health minister said 120 new cases were reported today, raising the total number of cases to 673. – March 17, 2020.