Muhyiddin speaking during the special announcement earlier this evening.
KUCHING (Aug 28): Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has announced that the current Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) will be extended until Dec 31.
He announced the extension of RMCO during a special live broadcast on major television channels and social media tonight.
The current RMCO is slated to end on Aug 31 after it came into effect on June 10.
Prior to the RMCO, the government enforced the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) from May 13 to June 10 and Movement Control Order (MCO) from Mar 18 to May 12 to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Muhyiddin said even though the country’s new Covid-19 positive cases had remained at single digit numbers recently, Malaysians must not take the matter lightly.
He said the government was left with no choice but to continue putting in place mechanisms and laws to break the chain of Covid-19 infection across the country.
“This is to ensure that all parties will continue to comply with the SOP (standard operating procedures) and health protocols set by the government.”
The prime minister warned Malaysians that the number of Covid-19 cases at the global level was still on the rise, with the virus spreading at a quicker and wider pace.
As such, he said Malaysia will continue imposing the 14-day mandatory quarantine order for Malaysians returning from abroad and non-Malaysians visiting the country.
With such stringent quarantine orders, he said no individual will be exempted from it and any individual who was found flouting the order will face a penalty.
“I welcome the suggestion of relevant authorities to raise the compound two to three times more than the existing amount under Act 342. Of course, we need an amendment to the Act in order to do so.”
Although the government has decided to extend the RMCO until the end of the year, Muhyiddin believed that such a move will not affect the daily life of Malaysians, with people embracing the new norms and complying with the SOP set by the government.
“More importantly, all must wear face masks, wash their hands while taking care of their own health and avoiding crowded places,” he said.