PUTRAJAYA JAN.11: The government has announced the imposition of Movement Control Order (MCO) on six states involving Pulau Pinang, Selangor, Federal Territories (Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, and Labuan), Melaka, Johor and Sabah effective 12.01 midnight 13th Jan. until 26 Jan.2021.
Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said, the MCO will be implemented in three stages including Conditional MCO (CMCO) imposed on six states involving Pahang, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Terengganu and Kelantan.
“The Recovery MCO (RMCO) will be implemented in Perlis and Sarawak throughout the 14 days MCO’s enforcement from 13th Jan. until 26 Jan.2021,” said Muhyiddin in is special deliberation on the implementation of MCO on TV1 this afternoon.
The Prime Minister said, the MCO is imposed in the states with high risks from the evaluation of the Ministry of Health (MOH) besides the level of health services has reached close to the maximum capacity.
Muhyiddin added, MOH will carry out a continuous risk evaluation to determine whether to stop the implementation of MCO or to continue the period after the two weeks have ended.
“To reduce the risk of infections and to break the transmissions of COVID-19, social activities involving big group like wedding ceremonies, conferences, religious processions like Thaipusam, meetings, seminars, trainings and group sports will not be allowed.
“However social activities are allowed subject to the strict standard operation procedure (SOP) in the states under RMCO. Inter-states travel are not allowed in the whole country while in the states under MCO, inter-district travel is also not allowed.” said Muhyiddin.
Road blocks operation will be enforced effective 12.01 midnight 13th Jan.2021 for the states under MCO and movements will be limited in the radius of 10 kilometre.
For the purpose of buying essential products from the supermarkets and grocery shops nearby, only two persons from a house are allowed to go out in the same vehicle. Any individual not adhering to the directive could be compounded to the maximum of RM1, 000.
Meanwhile the government has identified five sectors permitted to operate and are categorised as essential economic sectors and it includes manufacturing, building, services, trading and distribution, plantation and commodities.
These sectors are allowed to operate as it supports the works for the supply of the essentials like food, drinks and household essential products and personal, PPE facilities, medical devices and medicines for health staffs, international trading activities, to ensure the continuity of supply chain and to support the critical infrastructure and emergency works.
On the services, only 30 percent of the staffs in the management are allowed to be in the office while those in the support group, the number of workers to be present at any one time will be decided by the employer.
“I would like to remind that the number of workers present at the work place should adhere to strict SOP including the physical distancing. Any employer not adhering to the SOPs and causing the spread of COVID-19 will be dealt seriously including legal actions and the closure of the premises,” Muhyiddin reiterated.
Muhyiddin added, throughout the enforcement of the MCO, food stalls and restaurants are allowed to operate but only on take-away services while in the states under RMCO and CMCO, the food outlets could operate as usual following strict SOPs and food delivery services are also permitted.
On the other hand, super markets, health services including clinics, hospitals and pharmacies in MCO states are allowed to operate but with strict SOPs.
“The movements of the people are restricted under the MCO but exemptions are given to the candidates sitting for examinations including Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) for 2020 and 2021 sessions. The Ministry of Education will be detailing the SOPs later,” he added.
For the religious activities, only five committee members of the mosque or worship houses are allowed to be present in the states under MCO. In the states under RMCO and CMCO, the religious activities are allowed with the minimum number of people present as fixed in the SOP.
On the recreational activities, only members of the family from the same house are allowed. The distance between other people should be two metres away at all times. Not more than two people are allowed to jog and only one person is allowed to do cycling activity. – Malaysia World News
