Six of Malaysia’s 13 states will be put back into lockdown, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Monday, in an attempt to reverse a recent spike in new coronavirus case numbers.
The measures will take effect from Wednesday and will run for two weeks, the prime minister said.
People in the six affected regions will be limited to moving within a 10-kilometre radius of their homes and will have to work from home unless employed in an essential service.
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Restaurants will be limited to offering takeaway or delivery.
Administrative capital Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur, the biggest city, are among the regions to be put into the similar strictly enforced lockdown as implemented from March to May in 2020.
A ban on inter-state travel for the entire country will also come into effect, Muhyiddin said.
Malaysia reported over 3,000 new daily cases of the novel coronavirus for the first time last week.
The total caseload has doubled over the past month to over 135,000, with 551 related deaths reported by the Ministry of Health.
The surge has left the country’s health-care system “at breaking point,’’ Muhyiddin said.(dpa/NAN)
