Everything About the New M’sia Lockdown Whereby There Would be Curfew in Some Areas

If you think MCO 3.0 is bad enough, especially when compared to Singapore’s relatively-tame phase three (heightened alert) back in early June, wait until you hear about the enhanced version.

It’s bigger; it’s badder, and hopefully, it’ll finally help bring our neighbour’s daily COVID-19 cases down.

For many Malaysians, it feels like the lockdown will go on in perpetuity, and considering the trend of positive cases reported, it seems like they might be right.

After all, Phase 2 of MCO 3.0 will only kick in once cases drop below 4,000 daily cases nationwide and we’re sad to say that the country has never inched close enough to that golden number throughout the month of June.

EMCO Imposed in 34 Sub-Districts in Selangor and 14 Localities in KL

Senior Minister for Security Ismail Sabri Yaakob has recently announced that 34 sub-districts in Selangor – basically, every district in Selangor except Sabak Bernam – and 14 localities in KL will be placed under enhanced movement control order (EMCO) starting from 3 July.

The reason behind this harsh decision is because Selangor reported an average of 1,800 to 1,900 cases per day.

Kuala Lumpur also has a high number of daily cases, reporting between 600 and 1,000 cases every day.

The minister pointed out that the infectivity rate, or the R-naught number, remained at a worrying 1.0.

Despite the nationwide lockdown since 1 June, the number has not decreased.

Flushing all the sacrifices made by the Malaysian people during the lockdown down the toilet.

He added, “This is a worrying situation when we take into account the density of residents and the spread of three new variants which is much more dangerous.”

The variant he was referring to includes the Delta variant from India that is rapidly becoming the dominant COVID-19 strain in the world.

The announcement was released in light of the worsening COVID-19 situation in spite of MCO 3.0, with cases reaching a record high of 6,988 ever since the lockdown begun back on 1 June.

What Does This Mean for the People Living in Areas under EMCO?

TLDR? Well, here’s the Cliffs Notes version:

• Residents are not allowed to leave their homes after 8pm except for emergencies.
• All affected residents will be tested for COVID-19.
• Only one person per household is allowed to leave the house to purchase necessities.
• Travelling for necessities is only allowed within a 10km radius
• The police will be setting up roadblocks on all roads in the EMCO-affected areas.
• All factories within the EMCO areas will be closed, except for those producing essential goods such as food, face masks and medicine.

MCO 3.0: The Four-Phase Plan

Currently, everyone in Malaysian is still under Phase 1 of MCO 3.0.

As mentioned earlier, once the daily number of cases reach less than 4,000 will then the country enter into Phase 2 where certain businesses will be allowed to operate.

Another criterion for Phase 2 to kick in is for the country to have a 10% vaccination rate.

The current vaccination rate is at 7.2%.

The level of utilisation of intensive care units (ICU) beds for COVID-19 cases is also another indicator of whether or not the country can proceed to the next phase.

Things are definitely looking bleak for our neighbours across the strait – stay strong everyone!

Featured Image: Farrel Arissa / Shutterstock.com