MALAYSIA will reinstitute the much stricter movement control order (MCO) in six states from January 13 to 26, said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin 

“The measures are necessary as the situation today is alarming and the healthcare system is under tremendous pressure,” he said in a speech broadcast live at 6pm today.

“Based on the risk assessment by the Health Ministry and National Security Council, the government has agreed drastic action is needed to stop the increase in cases.  

Muhyiddin said three levels of curbs will be enforced in the country based on the Covid-19 situation:

* MCO in Penang, Selangor, Federal Territories (Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya & Labuan), Malacca, Johor and Sabah; 

* The less strict conditional MCO in Pahang, Perak, Negri Sembilan, Kedah, Terengganu and Kelantan; and, 

* Recovery MCO in Perlis and Sarawak.

The prime minister said the government will reevaluate the level of curbs needed in two weeks. 

An average of 1,000 to 2,000 Covid-19 cases have been reported a day since November last year, with a record high of 3,027 recorded on January 7.

As of Sunday, 135,992 Covid-19 infections and 551 deaths have been recorded in the country.

Health director general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had warned that the number of cases could reach 5,000 to 8,000 a day by May unless stricter curbs are put in place..

The first MCO was enforced on March 18, which barred all non-essential economic activity and travel in the country. 

Restrictions began to be eased on May 4 with the CMCO, which allowed social gatherings, interstate travel and all economic activity, but schools and houses of worship remained shut.

On June 10, curbs were relaxed further under the RMCO. Schools, religious activities, interstate travel and social gatherings were allowed, subject to social distancing rules.

The RMCO was to end on December 8, but extended to  December 31, and March 31 as the number of Covid-19 cases spiked.

Muhyiddin said Malaysia began recording four-digit increases on October 24 (1,228 new Covid-19 cases) and hit 3,027 cases on January 7.

Since September 20, there have been 476 new Covid-19 clusters (as at January 10) involving 259 (54.41%) workplace clusters. A total of 254 of the clusters are still active.

At the start of the third wave on September 20, 63% of the cases were from foreigners. The number infections among Malaysians have since overtaken foreigner infections, reaching 70% as at January 11.

“Based on the current R-naught of 1.1, Malaysia will record between 5,000 to 8,000 new cases every day by May. 

“We managed to bring the R-naught down to 0.335 during the first MCO. The higher the R-naught, the harder it is for us to control the spread of the virus,” he added.

He said that Malaysia’s healthcare system has reached a “breaking point” with the daily increases of more than 2,000 new cases.

“15 of the Covid-19 hospitals have already reached 70% capacity while the use of ICU facilities for Covid-19 patients at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital and Universiti Malaya Hospital have already reached 100%,” said Muhyiddin. 

He said that some 1,450 medical personnel have also been incapacitated after they were quarantined or infected by Covid-19.

“The high number of new cases have resulted in delays in getting the Covid-19 patients into the quarantine and low-risk treatment centres.

“This is made worse by the ongoing floods in several states.

“As such, the government has no choice but to bring back movement-control orders for the various states.” – January 11, 2021.