MCO 3.0 not as strict as MCO 1.0 to protect livelihood of the people

He said the government wanted to strike a balance between health and the livelihood of the people after the country had lost RM2.4 billion per day during the implementation of the first MCO from March 18 to May 3, 2020, which saw the closure of all economic sector.

"When we announced the MCO 3.0 yesterday, some people are questioning why don't we make it as (strict as) the first one. But if we do it like MCO 1.0, people will get angry as well. We cannot satisfy everybody.

"When we shut down all economic sectors, the most affected group will be small traders who are unable to survive," he said in a joint press conference with Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah here, today.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced that Malaysia would again implement the MCO nationwide from Wednesday to June 7 in an effort to curb the growing spread of COVID-19.

During the MCO, all economic sectors will be allowed to operate and a detailed standard operating procedure (SOP) on all the prohibitions and directives for the MCO this time would be announced by the MKN.

Ismail Sabri explained that the MKN’s Technical Meeting today decided that the standardised MCO SOP would be used nationwide, including in areas currently placed under the Conditional MCO (CMCO), Enhanced MCO (EMCO) and Recovery MCO (RMCO).

Meanwhile, he said the EMCO would be imposed at Rumah Awam Kos Rendah Pelagat 3, Mukim Pelagat, Besut, Terengganu from May 14 until 27 after 52 positive cases were detected out of 86 samples.

He said the EMCO would also be imposed at the Mara Junior Science College (MRSM) in Pengkalan Hulu, Hulu Perak, Perak; and at Kampung Baru Tras, Kampung Sg Cheetang and Kampung Sang Lee, Tras, Raub, Pahang from May 13 until 26.

This was to facilitate the Health Ministry (MOH) to conduct early detection of COVID-19 cases and close contact tracing, he added.

In a related development, Ismail Sabri said the EMCO at five settlements around Sungai Klau, Raub which was scheduled to end tomorrow would be extended until May 26 as the MOH reported that COVID-19 was still spreading in the areas.

He also announced that the EMCO at Kampung Baru, Sungai Chalit and Sungai Chalit Rural Transformation Project in Raub would end tomorrow as scheduled, while the EMCO at Kolej Tahfiz Sains Nurul Aman, Kok Lanas, Kota Bharu, Kelantan has ended today, earlier than the scheduled April 14.