A resident wearing a face mask picks up the package behind barbed wire outside the Pangsapuri Permai home, which is under the enhanced motion control (EMCO) order due to the drastic increase in the number of Covid- cases. 19 recorded in the last 10 days in Cheras, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday, May 28, 2021. The latest wave of coronavirus in Malaysia has been getting worse as the growing number and deaths have caused alarm among health officials, while the capital’s cemeteries have a growing number of deaths. Credit: AP Photo / Vincent Thian
Malaysian Prime Minister on Friday announced an almost total coronavirus blockade in the country, with economic and social activities set to stop for two weeks to contain a worsening outbreak.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the decision to implement the closure from June 1 came after 8,000 new infections fell for the first time on Friday, prompting fears that the disease could get out of control.
Earlier this month, the government imposed a partial shutdown until June 7, stopping companies from closing to prevent a possible economic catastrophe. But new infections have risen since the recent Muslim Eid festival, crossing 6,000 on May 19 for the first time and rising to 8,290 on Friday.
This raised the total number of cases in the country to 549,514. He ministries of health It also reported another 61 deaths on Friday, bringing the count to 2,552, nearly 40 percent recorded this month alone. The total number of cases and deaths in Malaysia has multiplied by five compared to last year.
Muhyiddin said in a statement that all business activities will be closed from June 1 to 14 in the first phase of full closure, except for essential services.
If the daily cases are reduced, some economic sectors will be allowed to reopen in the second phase, which is expected to last four weeks, he said. After that, the country will return to current controls, with all companies authorized to operate, but not social activities.
-
Armed soldiers guard Pangsapuri Permai, a residential area under the Order of Enhanced Movement Control (EMCO) due to the drastic increase in the number of COVID-19 cases recorded in the last 10 days in Cheras, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia, Friday, May 28, 2021. Malaysia’s latest wave of coronavirus has been getting worse as rising numbers and deaths have caused alarm among health officials, while the capital’s cemeteries are on the rise. of the dead. Credit: AP Photo / Vincent Thian
-
Police are on guard next to wire outside Pangsapuri Permai, a residential area under the Improved Motion Control Order (EMCO) due to the drastic increase in the number of COVID-19 cases recorded in the last 10 days in Cheras, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Friday, May 28, 2021. Malaysia’s latest increase in coronavirus has been getting worse as rising numbers and deaths have caused alarm among health officials, while cemeteries in the capital have a growing number of deaths. Credit: AP Photo / Vincent Thian
-
Residents wearing face masks stand behind wire outside Pangsapuri Permai, a residential area under the Improved Motion Control Order (EMCO) due to the drastic increase in the number of COVID-19 cases recorded over the past 10 days in Cheras, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. , Friday, May 28, 2021. Malaysia’s latest wave of coronavirus has been getting worse as rising numbers and deaths have caused alarm among health officials, while the capital’s cemeteries have a rising death toll. . Credit: AP Photo / Vincent Thian
Muhyiddin promised that the government will strengthen the health system to make sure it does not collapse and increase vaccinations.
This is the second national blockade in the country in more than a year. Last year a blockade severely affected the economy and the government resisted growing calls on another large scale confinement but yielded after the fugitive rise of new cases.
Earlier Friday, senior minister Ismail Sabri said many Malaysian ethnic Muslims violated COVID-19 security rules that prohibited them from visiting each other during the Eid festival.
He said 24 Eid clusters have been detected with 850 confirmed cases. He said many of the positive cases involved asymptomatic people.
© 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Citation: Malaysia Imposes Almost Total Blockade After Virus Cases (2021, May 28) Recovered on May 29, 2021 at https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-05-malaysia-imposes-near- total-lockdown-virus.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair treatment for private study or research purposes, no part may be reproduced without written permission. Content is provided for informational purposes only.