Govt To Implement Nationwide Ban On Interstate and Inter-District Movements From 10 May Onwards

Aside from having premises that are listed by the HIDE system to be closed immediately, the government has also decided to ban all interstate and inter-district movements throughout the country. The decision was announced by Senior Minister for Defence, Ismail Sabri Yaakob earlier today.

The new directive will be enforced throughout the country starting from this coming Monday, 10 May 2021 and will last for the next four weeks until Sunday, 6 June 2021. This is regardless of whether the area is within the Movement Control Order (MCO), Enhanced MCO (EMCO), Conditional MCO (CMCO), or Recovery MCO (RMCO) zones.

An exception will only be given to those that have received approvals from the police. However, the minister didn’t provide any details regarding activities that can be greenlighted by the police.

That being said, Minister Ismail did say that all social, education, and economic activities that can cause mass gatherings or public congestions will be prohibited starting from this Monday as well. The same restriction also applies to all official and social events as well as face-to-face activities within the government and private sector.

Even though these restrictions will last until early June, they will be reviewed again by the authorities after two weeks according to the minister. Given that there are so many things that are still very unclear about the new directive, we expect further clarifications to be announced tomorrow. So, stay tuned.

Inter-District Travel Permission Is Not Required For Vaccination Appointments

Senior Minister for Security Cluster, Ismail Sabri Yaakob earlier today announced that the government will impose the Movement Control Order (MCO) in six Selangor districts. The directive will be enforced from 6 to 17 May 2021 in the affected districts comprising of Hulu Langat, Petaling, Gombak, Klang, Kuala Langat, and Sepang.

As part of the implementation, interstate and inter-district movements are prohibited within these districts. Hence, members of the public who reside in the affected districts expressed their concern on whether they would be able to obtain their AstraZeneca vaccine if the Vaccine Administration Centre (PPV) is located outside of their own district.

The Co-Chairman of the Special Committee on COVID-19 Vaccine Supple (JKJAV), Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has swiftly addressed the issue by obtaining confirmation from Minister Ismail that those who are affected by the upcoming MCO implementation in Selangor are not required to obtain inter-district travel permission from the police to receive their vaccine.

All they need to do is to show proof of their vaccination appointment either on MySejahtera, JKJAV’s website, or SMS. Involving more than 250,000 individuals, the AstraZeneca vaccine distribution for Selangor and Kuala Lumpur will kick off from tomorrow onwards until early June 2021, while the government is already looking into expanding the vaccine’s reach to other parts of the country soon.

Government To Lift Inter-District Travel Restrictions On 5 March

Senior Minister for Security Cluster, Ismail Sabri Yaakob has announced that the government is going to lift the restrictions on inter-district movement throughout Malaysia later this week. It was originally put in place as part of the Movement Control Order (MCO) implementation to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

Applicable from 5 March onwards, the only exception to the new policy is Sabah as the state government has decided to extend the restriction for another two weeks. As for interstate movements, they are still being prohibited for the time being.

For those who are concerned about travelling between Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, Minister Ismail has clarified that the public is free to move between both states. However, movements from and into Putrajaya will still be prohibited even though all three states have been deemed as one single area during the Conditional MCO (CMCO) 1.0.

This is mainly due to the fact that they belonged to different MCO zones. Hence, the public will require permission from the police to move in and out of Putrajaya unless for those who have already obtained the necessary documentation from their employer.

In the same briefing, Minister Ismail has also announced that Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Perak, and Kelantan will be designated as CMCO zones from 5 to 18 March 2021.

On another hand, Putrajaya, Labuan, Sabah, Terengganu, Pahang, and Melaka will be joining Perlis under the Recovery MCO (RMCO) zones during the same time period. Minister Ismail stated that the decision to reclassify the MCO zones were due to the decreasing rate of positive COVID-19 cases.