KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — The government today announced that three districts in Sabah and one district in Selangor will be under a 14-day conditional movement control order (CMCO) from October 9 as they are Covid-19 red zones.

Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the decision was made in a special meeting by the National Security Council today, following the Health Ministry’s briefing about the virus outbreak in these four districts that had garnered more than 40 positive cases to date.

"These locations are in Sabah’s Sandakan, Papar, Tuaran and one in Selangor — Klang.

"Looking at the increase in cases in those areas, the National Security Council in a special meeting today agreed to implement CMCO in these four areas from October 9, 2020,” he said in a press conference broadcast live on Facebook from his residence where he is undergoing self-quarantine.

Ismail Sabri said that the CMCO in these four districts is intended to curb the spread of Covid-19 infections and to enable targeted Covid-19 screening activities there for a 14-day period.

Dos and don’ts for the four districts

As for the CMCO standard operating procedures (SOPs), Ismail Sabri said that entry and exit from these four districts would not be allowed.

Vehicles carrying essential goods will be allowed to move in and out of the CMCO districts with prior permission from the police.

Taxis and e-hailing services are only allowed to carry a maximum of two passengers and to operate from 6am to 8pm, while food delivery services are similarly allowed to only operate during 6am to 8pm.

Express buses and stage buses (bas henti-henti) are not allowed to operate at all.

He said only essential services such as factories and related services in the chain would be allowed with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry to list out such essential services.

Only two people from each household will be allowed to leave the house to obtain essential goods, he said.

Non-essential businesses are to be closed during the CMCO.

Those that can stay open are restaurants, eateries, sundry goods stores, convenience stores with allowed operating hours of between 6am to 6pm, with food to be purchased via drive-through, delivery or take-away only.

Petrol stations, pharmacies and stores selling medicine are similarly allowed to operate only between 6am to 6pm in the four districts during the CMCO, he said.

All government and private clinics and hospitals will be allowed to operate 24 hours daily.

Daily markets can operate from 6am to 2pm only, while night markets, wholesale markets, wet markets (tamu), and farmers’ markets (pasar tani) will not be allowed to operate during the CMCO period, he said.

"And residents there are not allowed to go out from the area and cannot work during the CMCO. I hope employers will not take action against workers who do not come to work because this is an order issued by the government and not by the worker’s choice,” he said.

It is understood that employers are requested to either allow their staff to be on leave or work from home if they cannot travel to their workplace due to the CMCO, and that the permission to work is only for essential services with the police’s approval.

It is also understood that movement for emergency cases are allowed but with the requirement to submit such applications to the authorities.

Ismail Sabri said all sports, recreational, social and cultural activities are not allowed in these four districts during the CMCO.

All places of worship for Muslims and non-Muslims, all public and private institutions of higher education, skills training institutions, schools, kindergartens, nurseries, childcare centres and tahfiz centres are also to be closed during this period.

Two days ago, Ismail Sabri announced that three districts in Sabah — Kota Kinabalu, Penampang and Putatan — would be placed under CMCO starting from October 7, 12.01am.

Today, he announced that the government has agreed to end the targeted enhanced movement control order (TEMCO) at the Tongkang Yard Flat in Seberang Perak, Kedah from 12.01am on October 8.

This is due to the lack of increase in recorded Covid-19 positive cases for seven days since September 28 at the flat.

The government had lifted an administrative enhanced movement control order (EMCO) on Kota Setar in Kedah on September 25, but imposed a TEMCO on the flat there from September 25.

With 249 second samples tested, the number of Covid-19 positive cases has remained unchanged from the 12 cases tally recorded as of September 28.

Today, Ismail Sabri also said that the special National Security Council meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin via video conferencing.

"The prime minister also decided that this meeting will be held each day. This shows that the government is very prihatin about the current Covid-19 situation within the country,” he said.

Ismail Sabri also said that he had tested negative for Covid-19 from a swab test yesterday and that he is not displaying any symptoms.

However, he said he will continue his 14-day self-quarantine based on the Health Ministry’s advice and will be holding press conferences via Facebook Live from his residence.