KUALA LUMPUR – Some 6.1 million, or 40%, of private workers and 750,000, or 80%, of civil servants will be asked to work from home starting May 25 amid a stricter movement control order (MCO) 3.0, said Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
This, he said, is among the government’s strategies to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Public transport capacity will be reduced 50%, while all retail activities will be limited to 8am to 8pm, he added.
The limited operating hours are applicable to all food and beverage premises, retail and grocery stores, laundromats and so on. Park and dine services are also prohibited.
Night markets are now allowed to operate only from 4pm to 8pm. Previously, they were allowed to open until 10pm.
An exception is made for pharmacies, which may open till 10pm, and petrol stations, which may open from 6am to 8pm – except for those along major highways, which can stay open 24 hours.
Work from home directive for civil servants will come from the chief secretary to the government (see letter below).
However, government frontline and services sector workers will not be able to work from home.
“These restrictions are additional to the existing MCO standard operating procedures (SOPs) for Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan. It will begin on May 25 onwards, while detailed SOPs for economic sectors will be announced by the International Trade and Industry Ministry,” said Ismail Sabri.
“More roadblocks will be set up as authorities escalate their monitoring activities.
“Additionally, enforcement authorities will also intensify their inspections. Those with the power to compound must supervise SOP compliance in public areas.”
While inspection activities by authorities normally focus on weekdays, Ismail Sabri said monitoring will also be increased on weekends and public holidays.
He said the government will be using the Hotspots Identification for Dynamic Engagement system to continue to identify potential Covid-19 hotspots, adding that these places will be closed immediately if found to be high-risk.
“After a Health Ministry risk analysis, locations with a high-risk status will be closed immediately.
“While there are SOPs, what is important is self-discipline. There must be self-lockdown (measures) to prevent infection. The SOPs will be revised from time to time, depending on the Covid-19 situation in the country.
“The government is also placing responsibility on the private sector to ensure Covid-19 infections are reduced by enforcing MySejahtera status checks on workers and visitors, as well as controlling the number of visitors.
“The private sector is also responsible in limiting the number of visitors to premises such as malls and shops.”
Yesterday, the National Security Council (NSC) agreed to further tighten restrictions under the current MCO following a climb in Covid-19 cases in recent weeks.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said stricter measures will be put on economic and social sectors, but stopped short of saying if a lockdown similar to the first MCO last year will be enforced.
Muhyiddin’s announcement comes following the highly anticipated NSC meeting to decide on whether the government will introduce stricter SOPs to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
Among others, he said the meeting heard the Health Ministry’s update on the current status of the pandemic in the country, including its infectivity rate, as well as states’ health system capacities and proposals to curb further outbreak.
“The SOPs for MCO 3.0 have been tightened (previously), including barring interstate and inter-district travels, as well as restrictions on social, sports and recreational activities, and physical conferences and meetings.
“However, the spread of the virus in the community has increased, and the existence of a new, more aggressive variant with a higher infectivity rate has made our efforts to flatten the infection curve take a longer period.
“Taking into account the discussion and deliberation in the NSC meeting, we have agreed to tighten the implementation of MCO 3.0.” – The Vibes, May 22, 2021
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