About a third of Malaysia's population will be placed under movement restrictions for two weeks as coronavirus cases continue to soar in the country following a recent outbreak from a state election.
The conditional movement control order (CMCO) for the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, and Selangor state - the country's most populous region and main economic hub - will begin just after midnight tomorrow and will last until Oct 27, said Senior Minister for Security Ismail Sabri Yaakob yesterday.
All of Sabah, which held the state election that led to the recent upsurge in infections, was placed under the CMCO from 12.01am today.
"To prevent further spreading of the infection, the National Security Council has agreed to impose the conditional MCO in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya," said Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri at his regular Covid-19 briefing yesterday.
"This will come into force from midnight Oct 14 until Oct 27."
However, the Selangor state government, which is controlled by the opposition Pakatan Harapan coalition, has called the decision "shocking" and has asked the National Security Council (NSC) to reconsider its decision for the state.
"The result of the meeting earlier showed that only Klang, Gombak, Hulu Langat and Petaling districts had a worrying amount of cases," Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said in a statement.
He said that the state authorities will write to the NSC to reconsider its decision to impose a blanket CMCO on Selangor, Malaysia's richest state and home to 6.5 million people.
The first CMCO ended four months ago on June 10, when Malaysia began the "recovery MCO" by reopening most businesses and allowing social activities. The more relaxed "recovery MCO" is still generally in place.
The movement restrictions will affect some 7.6 million residents in the Klang Valley - as Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Selangor districts are often called - consisting of 23 per cent of Malaysia's 32 million population.
Sabah has a population of 3.5 million, bringing the total number of Malaysians affected by the CMCO to 11 million, or 30 per cent of the country's population.
"All economic activities in the Selangor, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur are still allowed," Mr Ismail Sabri said.
But social activities and cross-district travel are not allowed. Those who have to cross district lines for work are required to show their work passes, he said.
On Oct 6, Malaysia reported 691 new Covid-19 infections in a day, a new high for the country.
Yesterday, 563 cases were logged, the second-highest daily tally.
Malaysia now has a cumulative total of 16,220 cases, with 5,039 active cases. Two more deaths were reported, to raise the total to 159.
The latest wave of infections was caused by the two-week campaigning that preceded the Sept 26 Sabah state polls, which drew politicians and election workers from all over Malaysia to the country's eastern-most state.
At that time, Sabah was already suffering from a coronavirus upsurge after an outbreak at a detention centre for illegal migrants.
The politicians and election workers have been blamed for bringing the virus back with them to Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak.
Under the previous CMCO, most industries were allowed to continue operations as long as they took healthcare precautions, such as taking temperatures of workers and practising social distancing. But places of worship, schools and kindergartens were shut and sporting activities banned. The authorities also mounted roadblocks to curb vehicular travel.
