No total lockdown but stricter policing from Thurs

Kuala Lumpur: The government will not impose a strict lockdown akin to the movement control order (MCO) last year as this would devastate lower income groups, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob (pic) said.

The senior defence minister acknowledged views that the current iteration of the MCO was more relaxed than before, but said it was still causing significant damage to the economy.

He said this was especially so for wage earners who would not have any income if they were prevented from working.

“As some say, we don’t want the people to die because of Covid-19 but we also don’t want the people to die because they have nothing to eat,” Ismail said.

The government imposed the current MCO on January 13 and later extended it to February 4.

Since then, however, Malaysia’s Covid-19 situation has continued deteriorating, resulting in three straight days with over 5,000 new cases or more than twice what was reported when the MCO was announced on January 11.

Ismail said it was important to balance the need to protect lives and to preserve the livelihoods of Malaysians.

He asserted that many small traders and food sellers have seen their incomes halved or worse in the MCO, and said this would evaporate completely if economic activities were restricted further.

Ismail said the authorities will adopt an uncompromising approach when policing for violations of Covid-19 standard operating procedures beginning Thursday.

He said authorities have not overstepped in their enforcement of the SOPs, adding that the police would not need to take action if there were no breaches.

“I wish to announce that, beginning February 4, strict action will be taken without compromise.

“As we can see, (Covid-19) cases have continued rising. The government has been focusing on construction sites and factories, but the public must continue obeying the law,” he said at a press conference after inspecting a roadblock operation in the city.

Ismail also indicated that increased penalties for compound notices issued under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 would be announced soon.

The Act currently allows a maximum RM1,000 penalty for compound notices issued under its authority but the Health Ministry has submitted amendments to increase this via an Emergency Ordinance.

The minister explained that the penalty was inadequate especially when dealing with companies, citing public anger over a glove maker that could not be fined beyond RM1,000 by the law.

He then suggested that the increased penalties would apply specifically to companies but declined to reveal what these would be, only saying that these would be announced later either by the police, the Health Ministry, or the National Security Council.

February 4 is the scheduled expiry of the movement control order covering all states in Malaysia except Sarawak.