2020

Dear Friends of Malaysia,

The entire nation will be put under COVID-19 travel restriction beginning 12 May 2021 until 7 June 2021 following the latest directives by our Malaysian government to stem the rising number of cases in the country.

According to our Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Malaysia is currently facing the third wave of COVID-19 infection, which can spark a national crisis. Therefore, encouraging the public to continue to stay at home with strict enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO) will curb the infection.

Our government will also continue using the Hotspot Identification for Dynamic Engagement (HIDE) system to monitor premises and COVID-19 hotspots in Malaysia.

During the MCO, economic activities would be allowed to continue throughout the country, but interstate and inter-district travel, as well as social activities, events and dining-in at restaurants, are not permitted.

However, travel across state and district are only granted for emergencies, work, health, vaccination appointments and visiting long-distance spouses.

All educational institutions are closed, with an exemption given to students sitting for international exams, while childcare centres are allowed to operate based on standard operating procedures (SOP). The work-from-home policy is made compulsory with no more than 30 per cent of management staff present in the office at any one time.

Besides, only three people, including the driver, are allowed to travel in a private car, taxi or e-hailing vehicles. All sports and recreational activities are also barred, except for individual jogging, cycling and exercising in open spaces with compliance to physical distancing.

Meanwhile, the Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL) for businesses travellers between Malaysia and Singapore will be suspended beginning 13 May 2021 after Singapore reported COVID-19 transmissions involving SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern (VOC).

Hence, travellers from Singapore who wish to enter Malaysia for business purposes would have to go through the One-Stop Centre (OSC) managed by the Malaysian Investment Development Agency (MIDA).

In addition, all travellers arriving in Malaysia from Singapore under Periodic Communicating Arrangement (PCA) must undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine at quarantine centres starting 13 May 2021, up from the current 10-day period.

As of 10 May, another 3,454 COVID-19 patients have recovered so far in Malaysia, and the overall COVID-19 recovery rate is at 91.20%. At the same time, Malaysia also recorded 3,807 new cases, totalling 444,484 cases nationwide. The total number of deaths is 1,700 cases or representing 0.39% of the confirmed cases.