The country is facing a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, with cases rising to 4000 a day and daily death tolls at alarming level, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was left with little choice but to announce a nationwide Movement Control Order effective 12 May till June 7 2021.
This comes after attempts to curb the rising daily cases with reminders and warnings failed to prevent the two main economic states of Selangor and Wilayah from hitting record numbers. With a combined population of 8.5 million a massive outbreak in these two states will be difficult to contain if left unchecked, according to the Ministry of Health the new variant of the virus which is already in the community is known to spread quickly and can cause serious damage to our healthcare system.
To avoid such a scenario, Malaysia will return to earlier MCO conditions which successfully managed to bring down infection rates. As for MCO 3.0 the government will only allow 30% of management staffs to be in the office and the rest will have to work from home. Addressing this issue, Muhyiddin also reiterated that while the work from home policy is in place, there will be time to time review and determined by the Chief Secretary. Additionally for number of people allowed in private vehicles, e-hailing rides or taxis will be limited to three person including the driver.
Businesses can feel relieved that MCO 3.0 does not order operations to shut down, in fact all economic sectors can continue as long as guidelines are adhered. There will be a detailed SOP on directives and prohibitions for MCO will be announced from time to time by the government.
