PMO confirms stronger MCO 3.0 SOPs for the social and economic sector

Police personnel inspect vehicles at a roadblock along Jambatan Merdeka, at the Kedah-Penang border

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, May 21 — As Malaysia struggles to cope with rising Covid-19 infections, the federal government will announce stronger SOPs for the business and social sectors tomorrow.

The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement issued this evening that the National Security Council convened today and determined that further action is needed to stem the disturbing growth of Covid-19 across the country.

“SOPs for the current movement control order (MCO) 3.0, which has been in place since May 12, have been strengthened, including the prohibition of interstate and inter-district travel, athletic and recreational activities, and conference and face-to-face meetings.

Despite that, the virus is continuing to spread within the community with new more aggressive variants with a high infectivity rate delaying efforts to curb the spread. Taking into consideration all the discussions in the meeting today we wholeheartedly agreed to add more restrictions to the economic and social sectors.

“At the special summit, state governments will discuss their measures to combat the spread of the disease.

The message added, "Details on the further limits will be disclosed by the military minister tomorrow, May 22, 2021."

Today, another 50 people died in Malaysia, bringing the total death toll to 643. The number of positive cases in Selangor has risen to more than 6,000 each day this month.

The source also said the government cannot allow the economy to collapse as this would result in massive job losses.