KEDAH has suspended Putrajaya’s decision to restart industries from Monday, said Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir.

He said the state wanted to maintain its green zone status after all its districts were found to be free of Covid-19.

“So the decision to implement the conditional movement-control order will be postponed until the state security council meets on Tuesday. This stand is made to keep Kedah in the green zone and its people safe,” he said in a statement this evening.

Kedah is the second state to declare it will not follow the directive after Sarawak announced the same decision earlier today.

Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah said the state will maintain the status quo on directives and standard operating procedures it has given to industries and businesses approved to operate under the first, second and third phases of the MCO. 

He said state industries and businesses that have received International Trade and Industry Ministry approval to resume operations from Monday are also required to get the state government’s approval. 

Applications have to be made through the state disaster management committee, he added.

Uggah, who chairs the committee, said the industry or business cannot restart operations until their application is approved by the state unit.

The decision comes as the Health Ministry today announced that the number of new Covid-19 cases in the country was back in triple digits, with 105 new infections, the highest in 16 days.

Director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 4,326 people have recovered from the virus, while the accumulated number of cases is 6,176.

He said of the new cases, 11 are imported while the remaining 94 are local transmissions.

The total number of Covid-19 active cases stands at 1,747. They have been isolated and given treatment, he said.

“Currently, there are 31 patients in intensive care, of whom 12 require respiratory support,” he told the daily Covid-19 media briefing today.

Noor Hisham said there were no deaths reported in the last 24 hours, and the national death toll remains at 103 cases. – May 2, 2020.