Putrajaya to lift movement control order for KL, Selangor, Johor and Penang

KUALA LUMPUR — Three states and the federal territory in Malaysia will exit the movement control order (MCO) at midnight on March 4, the country’s senior minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced on Tuesday (March 2).

Selangor, Johor, Penang and Kuala Lumpur will return to the conditional MCO the next day, he said.

Mr Ismail Sabri said the call to lift the MCO followed data suggesting a downward trend in Covid-19 infection rate.

The Ministry of Health had informed the National Security Council that the R-nought, measure of infectivity rate, has reduced from 1.2 to 0.8, the minister said.

“Clusters and cases in the community have also been dropping,” Mr Ismail Sabri told a media briefing broadcasted on television.

“On the advice of and risk assessment by the MOH, the special council has decided as such: That all four states under the MCO, that is Selangor, the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Penang, their status will be changed to the conditional MCO (CMCO),” the minister said.

Kedah, Kelantan, Negri Sembilan, Perak and Sarawak will remain under the CMCO, Mr Ismail Sabri said, while other states currently under the CMCO will now be under the recovery movement control order (RMCO).

The six states and Federal Territories are Melaka, Pahang, Sabah, Putrajaya and Labuan.

Mr Ismail Sabri also announced that the inter-district travel ban has been lifted in all the states bar Sabah.

The minister said the Sabah state government had requested that the ban be extended for another two weeks. Sabah is viewed as the state that started the pandemic’s third wave in Malaysia.

Restrictions on interstate travel remain in place, Mr Ismail Sabri said. MALAY MAIL