KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 — Inter-district travel will not be allowed during Hari Raya celebrations in states placed under the new round of movement control order (MCO), Utusan Malaysia reported today.

Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was quoted as saying that Muslims can only celebrate Aidilfitri within their respective districts, contrary to an earlier suggestion that social gatherings will be allowed only on the first day.

Malay-Muslims typically celebrate Hari Raya for the entire month that follows Ramadan, with the busiest gatherings typically happening on the first three days.

"The authorities will tighten roadblocks at all district borders starting today and especially on the first day of Hari Raya,” the minister was quoted as saying.

"This measure is meant to stem the spread of Covid-19 because we do not want any gatherings or assembly to be the cause of this pandemic,” he added.

Ismail Sabri announced on Wednesday that family gatherings will be allowed but limited to just 15 people for districts under MCO.

For locations placed under conditional MCO (CMCO) and recovery MCO (RMCO), visits are allowed from 1 to 3 Syawal (the first to third day of Raya), but with the numbers limited to 20 persons at any one time for CMCO areas, and not exceeding 25 persons at any one time for RMCO areas.

Hosts are encouraged to have on hand equipment to measure the body temperature of guests as well as a MySejahtera QR code for scanning, Ismail Sabri said.

On Tuesday, Ismail Sabri announced that six districts in Selangor (Hulu Langat, Petaling, Gombak, Klang, Kuala Langat and Sepang) would no longer be under CMCO, but instead placed under MCO from May 6 to May 17.

Kuala Lumpur is under MCO starting today.

In another government gazette dated May 1, places under RMCO from now until May 17 are Kedah (except the five districts under MCO), Melaka, Negri Sembilan (except Seremban district), Pahang (except the Raub district), Perak, Perlis, Terengganu, Putrajaya and Labuan.

Yesterday, the Health Ministry recorded 3,551 new Covid-19 cases in the previous 24-hour period, bringing the total number of active cases nationwide to 33,762. Nineteen deaths were also reported.