As several states in Malaysia are currently placed under the renewed Movement Control Order (MCO), Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will be addressing the nation at 4.00pm today to introduce a special assistance package.
The announcement is happening at 4pm today (18h January 2021) and it will be streamed live through multiple platforms including RTM, Bernama TV, TV3 and Astro Awani.
The recent MCO measures were introduced to tackle the rising number of new COVID-19 cases which has hit as high as 4,029 cases in a single day. The Prime Minister said the new lockdown restrictions were necessary as the healthcare system is at its breaking point and we need to bring down the number of cases to a more manageable level.
In MCO areas, several business sectors are not allowed to operate except for those that are considered essential. The tourism industry is also badly affected as interstate travel is currently not allowed nationwide, while interdistrict movement is not permitted for areas under MCO.
At the moment, the now dubbed MCO 2.0 for several states including Selangor, Sabah and Kuala Lumpur is scheduled to end on 26th January. There’s a possibility of another extension if it’s required to control the pandemic.
The Prime Minister is expected to introduce new measures to cushion the impact of the MCO for both individuals and businesses. There’s a possibility of new moratorium and stimulus packages to protect the livelihood of Malaysians. More details will be revealed at 4.00pm this afternoon.
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