Tightened COVID-19 measures to be implemented in parts of Malaysia and Indonesia

The Malaysian government has implemented an enhanced movement control order (EMCO) in parts of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur on Thursday (Jul 1).

It will take place for 14 days, from Jul 3 to Jul 16. The EMCO will affect 34 sub-districts of Selangor and 14 residential areas in Kuala Lumpur. 

Residents living in these areas will not be allowed to leave their homes after 8pm, and only one person per household is allowed to run home errands. 

In the past four days, Malaysia’s daily case numbers have exceeded 5,000, with Selangor and Kuala Lumpur’s COVID-19 cases accounting for more than a third of the nation.

“Selangor recorded an average of 1,800 to 1,900 cases daily, while KL had between 600 and 1,000 cases daily,” said Senior Minister of Security, Datuk Seri Ismail.

Only essential services and official government duty workers with appropriate documentation are allowed to travel to work. 

Factories manufacturing food and daily essential items are allowed to operate while all restaurants, food courts, shops and street vendors can only open from 8am to 8pm.

To tackle COVID-19 in these areas, the Malaysian Health Ministry will also conduct targeted mass testing for all residents in the affected areas, and the vaccination programme will be sped up.

The Indonesian government has also implemented broad emergency community restrictions for Java and Bali on Thursday (Jul 1).

The PPKM (community-level public activity restrictions enforcement) Emergency will take place for 14 days, from Jul 3 to Jul 20.

All malls will be closed, and no dining will be allowed at restaurants, cafes and street food vendors. Grocery stores, supermarkets, minimarkets, and wet markets will still be operational until 8pm with the capacity at 50 percent.

All students must study from home. Places of worship, sports facilities, and public facilities such as parks will be closed.

Restricted movement will also take place according to the sectors that they work in.

All employees in the critical sectors can work in the office and essential workers are allowed in the office with a maximum capacity of 50 per cent and under strict health protocols.

Employees in the non-essential sectors must work from home.

To travel on buses and trains, one must be vaccinated at least once and present their vaccination card.

For travelling via plane, in addition to their vaccination, they must also have a negative PCR test that is taken two days prior to boarding a flight.

Indonesia currently has the most COVID-19 cases in South-east Asia, with more than 2.2 million cases and 58,995 deaths. Java and Bali have a total of around 1.52 million cases, which makes up 70 per cent of Indonesia’s numbers.