Malaysia to enter Phase 1 of ‘total lockdown’ from Jun 1 to 14

Malaysia will enter Phase 1 of a total nationwide lockdown from Jun 1 to Jun 14 to curb the rapidly rising number of COVID-19 infections in the country. 

The announcement was made in a media statement by Malaysia Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Friday (May 28) after Malaysia reported 8,290 new cases, its fourth straight day of record infections.

Daily new cases in the country have been exceeding 8,000 since May 28 and active cases are currently surpassing 70,000. This brings the total number of cases in the country to 549,514.

The country also reported a total of 61 deaths on Friday, pushing the country’s death toll to 2,552. This is the first month that Malaysia had more than 1,000 fatalities since the pandemic began last year.

All social and economic sectors will have to cease operations in Phase 1. Only essential economic and service sectors listed by the National Security Council can continue to operate during the first phase of the lockdown.

Should Phase 1 of the lockdown be successful in reducing the number of daily COVID-19 cases, the government will implement a second phase of the lockdown lasting four weeks. Phase 2 will allow more economic sectors to reopen, provided they do not involve large gatherings.

Phase 3 of the lockdown, a movement control order (MCO), will follow should the situation continue to improve. This is similar to the current rules in effect, where most economic sectors are allowed to operate with strict standard operating procedures in place. All social activities, however, will still not be allowed.

Given the economic impact of the lockdown, the Ministry of Finance in Malaysia will also develop a financial aid package for the affected public and economic sectors.