Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Malaysia seems to be ‘make peace’ with Covid-19. The country is reportedly not going to extend the Covid-19 emergency status which was imposed from January to August 1, 2021.
Launch Reuters, Malaysian Law Minister Takiyuddin Hassan stressed the government would not ask the King, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, to extend the state of emergency when it ended. This was emphasized in a meeting with the Malaysian parliament, Monday (26/7/2021).
Previously, the establishment of emergency status became a polemic in Malaysian politics. Prime Minister Muhyiddin’s government stressed the status was important to curb the spread of Covid-19.
However, the government opposition views this as a move by Muhyiddin to stop his attempt to remove him because of the change in support for him in parliament. The Malaysian king himself had gathered Malaysia’s top figures and all the state’s sultans two months ago to discuss extending the state of emergency.
Meanwhile, Malaysia is also planning to reopen the economy and withdraw lockdown through the movement control rules (MCO) in October. This was confirmed by Muhyiddin on a different occasion, Monday.
“God willing, with continued efforts to push the recovery process and immunization programs running smoothly, we expect most states to enter phase four (easing) in early October,” he was quoted as saying. Strait Times.
Phase four is the lowest level of MCO restrictions. People can return to normal life, with most sectors of the economy allowed to reopen with health protocols and contact tracing and social distancing.
Currently Malaysia is still in phase 4 MCO. Where only essential services are allowed to operate. The movement of people and businesses is locked down. However, Muhyiddin emphasized that this policy will be evaluated according to the current situation. Including sudden government intervention if needed.
Currently, Malaysia’s Covid-19 cases continue to increase despite the lockdown. Sunday, the daily cases even reached a record 17 thousand people. As of Monday, the daily number of cases fell slightly to 14 thousand. However, the death toll is a record because it reached a new high of 207 people in a day.
“There are 1,009 patients in the intensive care unit, with 524 requiring respiratory assistance,” Malaysia’s Ministry of Health said.
In total, there are currently 1,027,954 cases in Malaysia since the Covid-19 outbreak. Of which 165,840 are active cases.
The lockdowns cost the economy 1 billion ringgit (US$239 million) per day. A number of analysts cut their forecast for Malaysia’s 2021 GDP growth to 4.4% from the last 5.3%.
(dru)
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