KUALA LUMPUR – Six of Selangor’s nine districts will be placed under the movement control order (MCO) from May 6 to 17, said Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
The areas are Hulu Langat, Petaling, Gombak, Klang, Kuala Langat and Sepang.
The other three districts, namely Kuala Selangor, Sabak Bernam and Hulu Selangor, remain under the conditional MCO.
Ismail Sabri said the decision was made following a proposal from Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari and the state National Security Council, as well as a risk assessment.
“This decision was made after taking into account the spike in cases, and to break the Covid-19 chain. Selangor has recorded a high number of cases since April 2 until today,” he told a press conference this evening.
With the announcement, he said, interstate and inter-district travel within Selangor is not allowed, except for emergency cases such as death.
However, Ramadan bazaars can still operate.
The standard operating procedures are the same as those applied in areas already under the MCO, including shortened business hours.
Eateries can open only from 6am to midnight – as opposed to until sahur to allow Muslims fasting during Ramadan to have their predawn meal – while sundry shops can operate only from 6am to 10pm, and wet and public markets, from 6am to 2pm.
“Economic activities in MCO areas will be allowed, with strict SOPs in place. However, social activities are not permitted,” said Ismail Sabri.
He said a separate announcement will be made soon on workplace SOPs for both the public and private sectors.
On cases of rejected interstate travel applications, the minister said he was informed that there have been many instances of police being unconvinced of the reasons given by motorists seeking to cross state lines.
He said the authorities have recorded an extremely high number of travel requests on the weekends.
I was made to understand that sometimes, police don’t approve the applications due to the authenticity of the reasons provided being suspect. On the weekends, I was told that interstate travel applications amounted to 40,000 a day.”
The decision on allowing interstate travel lies with police, he said, stressing that no exceptions are granted, even for VIPs.
In a statement, Amirudin said considering Selangor’s high Covid-19 caseload, the state Public Health Action Plan will conduct active case detection.
The screening programme, which is fully funded by the state government, will be held in Kajang and Semenyih from Saturday to Monday.
“The free screening will be done in two state constituencies each day, and will cover all 56 constituencies in Selangor,” said Amirudin.
“It is hoped that with this programme, the Selangor public will take the proactive measure of undergoing screening in their respective areas according to the scheduled date.” – The Vibes, May 4, 2021
