Malaysia PM orders nationwide 'total lockdown' amid Covid-19 surge

Kuala Lumpur

MALAYSIAN Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Friday announced a nationwide "total lockdown" starting in June as coronavirus infections in the country surged to record levels.

Mr Muhyiddin said that the stricter lockdown from June 1 to 14 was for all social and economic sectors, and that only essential services would remain in operation. He added that the government will also be announcing an aid package to companies and people affected by the new restrictions. "The government will ensure the public healthcare system will not collapse and a variety of support and help will be given to the Health Ministry to increase the capacity of hospitals nationwide," a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said. "The government will also increase vaccination in the coming weeks in efforts to create herd immunity."

Giving details of the planned lockdown, the New Straits Times reported the government as saying that if the first phase of the lockdown succeeds in reducing the daily Covid-19 cases, it will allow the reopening of a number of economic sectors that do not involve big gatherings and adhere to physical distancing guidelines.

The second phase of the lockdown will be carried out for four weeks after the first phase ends. Once this expires, the country will move on to a third phase when all social activities are still forbidden but almost all economic activities can begin to resume. Physical attendance to workplaces however, would be strictly controlled.

The Covid-19 spread in Malaysia in recent weeks has been more severe, partly due to highly transmissible coronavirus variants. Hospitals are also strained.

"With the latest rise in daily cases showing a drastically upward trend, hospital capacity across the country to treat Covid-19 patients are becoming limited," Mr Muhyiddin said in the statement.

On Thursday, Health Minister Adham Baba said that hospitals and low risk quarantine facilities had reportedly reached 75 per cent capacity. And a total of 9,689 beds in hospitals and 25,605 beds in the low-risk centres had reportedly been taken up.

He said that in states such as Selangor, Kelantan, Johor and Terengganu where the infections have hit public hospitals the hardest, wards have been repurposed as Covid-19 treatment facilities to add beds for patients who need treatment, including ICU care.

Malaysia reported 8,290 new coronavirus cases on Friday, its fourth straight day of record infections and bringing the total number of cases to 549,514.

It also reported 61 deaths. The number of daily fatalities have been rising, with a record daily toll of 63 earlier this week.

Criticism about the government's approach to the worsening pandemic and accusations of double-standards in enforcement of virus rules have resulted in an outpouring of anger on local social media in the past few months. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG