Malaysia to impose tighter lockdown as daily Covid-19 cases stay above 6,000

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia on Friday (May 21) announced that it will tighten the enforcement of the ongoing movement curbs including adding restrictions to parts of the economic and social sectors.

The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that details on the additional restrictions will be announced by the Senior Minister (Defence cluster) Ismail Sabri Yaacob at a news conference on Saturday.

The announcement followed a meeting of the National Security Council, an agency led by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, which decides on Covid-19 protocols.

Malaysia logged a record 6,806 daily cases on Thursday and 59 people died on the same day, also a record.

The country on Friday reported 6,493 cases and 50 fatalities.

Malaysia is into its second of a four-week national lockdown called Movement Control Order (MCO), but with most factories allowed to remain open and many office workers could choose to come to work.

Malls have remained open, and while no dine-ins are allowed, restaurants could have customers ordering takeaways and online deliveries.

There were also targeted lockdowns, called Enhanced MCO, for two weeks in several localities in Perak, Kelantan, Pahang, Sabah and Sarawak states, and in areas in Kuala Lumpur federal territory, hit by rising Covid-19 cases.

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