Malaysia's movement control order (MCO) was supposed to end tomorrow (June 28) after a two-week extension.
However, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has announced that the MCO will further extend to about mid-July.
Might last till July
Speaking at a media doorstop interview on June 27 after visiting a vaccination centre, Muhyiddin explained:
"People say that the MCO is about to end but this is not true. Firstly, I want to clarify that we don’t call it MCO anymore. We are in different phases of the National Recovery Plan. Right now, we are in Phase One, and this might last until July, maybe in the middle of the month or so."
Over 5,000 cases for fifth consecutive day
Muhyiddin also said that the restrictions will not be eased until the daily number of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia fall below 4,000.
On Sunday (June 27), Malaysia reported 5,586 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 734,048.
It is the fifth consecutive day that the number of daily cases has remained above 5,000.
The state of Selangor recorded the highest number of cases at 2,212 , followed by Kuala Lumpur at 628 and Sarawak at 513.
Malaysian government to announce additional financial assistance
Muhyiddin also told the media that the Malaysian government will be providing additional financial assistance to its citizens.
He said that more information on the financial assistance will be announced either tomorrow (June 28) or on Tuesday (June 29).
Muhyiddin added:
"We are aware that the people are waiting to see how the government is going to help those affected.
[...]
We have considered the needs of all these groups more thoroughly than before. I will announce the details either tomorrow (June 28) or the day after that (June 29) so that everyone knows where we stand. What's important is that support is given to all groups in our society."
Top image by Andrew Koay.