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Covid-19: Spike in Covid-19 cases in Malaysia; targeted enforcement of movement control measures

07 May 2021

Following our Alert on 30 April 2021 -
 
  1. the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within Infected Local Areas) (Movement Control) (No. 4) (Amendment) (No. 14) Regulations 2021 were gazetted on 30 April 2021 and came into force on the same day;
  2. the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within Infected Local Areas) (Movement Control) (No. 4) (Amendment) (No. 15) Regulations 2021 were gazetted on 1 May 2021 and came into force on the same day; and
  3. the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within Infected Local Areas) (Movement Control) (No. 4) (Amendment) (No. 16) Regulations 2021 were gazetted on 5 May 2021 and came into force on 6 May 2021;
(collectively, the “MCO No. 4 Amendment Regulations”)
 
  1. the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within Infected Local Areas) (Conditional Movement Control) (No. 4) (Amendment) (No. 13) Regulations 2021 were gazetted on 30 April 2021 and came into force on the same day;
  2. the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within Infected Local Areas) (Conditional Movement Control) (No. 4) (Amendment) (No. 14) Regulations 2021 were gazetted on 1 May 2021 and came into force on the same day;
  3. the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within Infected Local Areas) (Conditional Movement Control) (No. 4) (Amendment) (No. 15) Regulations 2021 were gazetted on 5 May 2021 and came into force on 6 May 2021;
  4. the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within Infected Local Areas) (Conditional Movement Control) (No. 4) (Amendment) (No. 16) Regulations 2021 were gazetted on 6 May 2021 and came into force on the same day; and
  5. the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within Infected Local Areas) (Conditional Movement Control) (No. 4) (Amendment) (No. 17) Regulations 2021 (“CMCO No. 4 Amendment No. 17 Regulations”) were gazetted on 7 May 2021 and will come into force on 10 May 2021;
(collectively, the “CMCO No. 4 Amendment Regulations”)
 
  1. the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within Infected Local Areas) (Recovery Movement Control) (No. 3) (Amendment) (No. 14) Regulations 2021 were gazetted on 30 April 2021 and came into force on the same day;
  2. the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within Infected Local Areas) (Recovery Movement Control) (No. 3) (Amendment) (No. 15) Regulations 2021 were gazetted on 1 May 2021 and came into force on the same day; and
  3. the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within Infected Local Areas) (Recovery Movement Control) (No. 3) (Amendment) (No. 16) Regulations 2021 were gazetted on 5 May 2021 and came into force on 6 May 2021,
(collectively, the “RMCO No. 3 Amendment Regulations”).
 
List of infected local areas to be published on National Security Council’s website
 
Following our Alert on 30 April 2021, the movement control measures announced by the Malaysian Government have been expanded to include mukims, whereas previously, these measures were applied only to states and districts.
 
Under the MCO No. 4 Amendment Regulations, the CMCO No. 4 Amendment Regulations and the RMCO No. 3 Amendment Regulations, the infected local areas subjected to a movement control order, a conditional movement control order or a recovery movement control order will no longer be published by way of subsidiary legislation but will be published on the website of the National Security Council which can be accessed here.
 
As at the time of writing of this Alert, the following infected local areas are subjected to a movement control order1 –
 
  1. the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur;
  2. six districts in the State of Selangor;
  3. three districts in the State of Johor;
  4. fourteen mukims in the district of Besut in the State of Terengganu; and
  5. mukim of Taiping in the district of Larut, Matang and Selama in the State of Perak.
CMCO No. 4 Amendment Regulations
 
Selangor and Kuala Lumpur no longer reckoned as one infected local area
 
Under the CMCO No. 4 Amendment Regulations, the State of Selangor and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur are no longer reckoned as one infected area.
 
Control of movement within the State of Sabah
 
Under the CMCO No. 4 Amendment No. 17 Regulations –
 
  1. a person is prohibited from moving from one district to another district within the State of Sabah except for the prescribed purposes; 2 and
  2. a person moving from one district to another district within the State of Sabah due to a special or particular reason must obtain the prior written permission of the police officer in charge of the police station nearest to his residence,
from 10 May 2021 to 16 May 2021.3
 
RMCO No. 3 Amendment Regulations
 
Movement for purpose of touring no longer permitted
 
Under the RMCO No. 3 Amendment Regulations, movement for purpose of touring is no longer permitted. Previously, a person was allowed to move for the purpose of touring activity subject to any conditions determined by the Director General of Health from time to time as published in the National Security Council’s website to any place within the infected local areas subjected to a recovery movement control order.
 
Comments
 
The number of daily Covid-19 cases in Malaysia has remained above the 3,000-mark in the past few days and the country’s R-naught shows no signs of a decline. It remains to be seen whether the latest iteration of the movement control measures will be effective in containing the spread of the Covid-19 virus, especially in areas subjected to a movement control order, as many economic sectors, including the retail sector, are still allowed to operate. Another concern is the slow rollout of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme as the vaccination process in Malaysia is slower compared to a number of other jurisdictions.
 
Notes

Our earlier Alerts on the movement control measures in Malaysia dated 30 April 2021, 23 April 2021, 16 April 2021, 7 April 2021, 5 April 2021, 24 March 2021, 22 March 2021, 12 March 2021 and 9 March 2021 can be accessed using the provided links.
 
Alert prepared by Tan Wei Liang (Associate) and Tai Kean Lynn (Associate) of Skrine.
 
1 ‘KL, districts in Johor, Perak, Terengganu under MCO from Friday’, New Straits Times Online, 5 May 2021.
2 Prescribed purposes mean any of the following purposes, (a) to supply or deliver food, medicine, dietary supplement or daily necessities; (b) to seek healthcare or medical services; (c) to work; (d) to perform any official duty, judicial duty or any other duty authorised by an authorised officer; (e) to provide humanitarian aid to any person affected by any natural disaster; and (f) to attend learning or to prepare and sit for any examination determined by the relevant authority at any learning institution or by any professional body, to provide lessons for the preparation of examination, to conduct an examination or to perform any duty at any learning institution.
3 The districts of Kota Kinabalu, Putatan and Penampang in the State of Sabah are reckoned as one district.

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