Malaysia imposes restrictions in most states till 6 December as Covid cases rise

The country has been struggling to contain a resurgence of coronavirus infections that emerged in late September after elections in a Malaysian state.

Shoppers use hand sanitizer as a vendor checks a customer's temperature outside a store during a partial lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Bloomberg

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia imposed a monthlong conditional movement order in most states as the number of daily coronavirus cases hit a record on Friday.

The restrictions will end on Dec. 6, Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob told reporters on Saturday. The partial lockdown in capital Kuala Lumpur, as well as the states of Selangor and Sabah will be extended when it expires on Monday, he said.

The curbs won’t apply to the states of Perlis, Pahang and Kelantan in peninsular Malaysia, and the state of Sarawak on Borneo island, he said, without elaborating.

Malaysia on Friday recorded the largest single-day increase in new cases since the outbreak began despite the tighter movement restrictions. It has been struggling to contain a resurgence of coronavirus infections that emerged in late September after local elections in Sabah. The government had recently ordered about 1 million people to work from home, and banned all social and cultural activities to control the spread.

New infections topped 1,000 for five straight days this week. The tally for Saturday stood at 1,168, with more than half the cases coming from Sabah, according to the Health Ministry. – Bloomberg