Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia’s Recovery MovementControl Order (RMCO), which is applied to fight COVID-19 in the country, hasbeen extended to December 31.
Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced the decision in arecent televised speech, adding that based on latest developments,more time would be needed to free Malaysia from the pandemic. The RMCO phasewas originally scheduled to end on August 31.
He said even though the number of new cases in the countryhas fallen, the virus is still raging globally.
The PM noted if there is an increase in cases in certainMalaysian locations, the government will take a targeted approach byimplementing enhanced movement control order as previously enforced in severallocations.
Muhyiddin expressed his support for the Ministry of Health toincrease the fines for those who break these laws, to twice or thrice thecurrent amounts.
The Malaysia government imposed the Movement Control Order (MCO) onMarch 18 after it reported a spike of 125 new COVID-19 infections, makingMalaysia the worst hit in Southeast Asia at the time. The stringent phase ofthe MCO then transitioned into a conditional phase on May 1 before the RMCO beganon June 10./.