On 11 January 2021, the Prime Minister of Malaysia announced the implementation of tighter measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the country. Such measures include designating certain states as areas under a movement control order ('MCO'), a conditional movement control order ('CMCO') or a recovery movement control order ('RMCO'), depending on the severity of the Covid-19 infection in the respective states.

To give effect to the foregoing, the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within Infected Local Areas) (Movement Control) Regulations 2021 ('MCO Regulations'), the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within Infected Local Areas) (Conditional Movement Control) Regulations 2021 ('CMCO Regulations') and the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within Infected Local Areas) (Recovery Movement Control) Regulations 2021 ('RMCO Regulations') were gazetted on 12 January 2021.

This Alert provides a summary of the salient provisions of the MCO Regulations, the CMCO Regulations and the RMCO Regulations.

The MCO Regulations

The MCO Regulations apply to the states of Selangor, Penang, Johor, Melaka and Sabah, as well as the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan ('MCO States'). The MCO Regulations have effect for a period of 14 days from 13 January 2021 to 26 January 2021.

Essential services

The Schedule to the MCO Regulations sets out a list of 48 'essential services' and the definition of 'essential services' include any activity and process in the chain of such services. The list of these services is available here.

Control of movement and gatherings

1. No person shall make any journey from one place to another except for the following purposes -

a. to purchase, supply or deliver food, medicine, dietary supplement or daily necessities;

b. to seek healthcare or medical services;

c. to purchase goods or procure any essential services from any provider of such services;

d. to provide any essential services or perform any duty in relation to any essential services;

e. to perform any official duty, judicial duty or any other duties authorised by an authorised officer;

f. to provide humanitarian aid to any person affected by any natural disaster;

g. to attend learning or to prepare and sit for any examination determined by the relevant authority at any learning institution, to provide lessons for the preparation of examination or to conduct an examination; and

h. to carry out any works on any infrastructure related to any essential services or on any infrastructure which if not carried out would affect the provision of the essential services or the safety and stability of the infrastructure.

2. Entry into, or exit from, a place that is subject to an enhanced movement control order is prohibited except for any person who is providing healthcare and medical services or is permitted by an authorised officer.

3. No person may be involved in any procession or gathering, whether for religious, sports, recreational, social or cultural purpose, except for a gathering for religion at any mosque or place of worship or funeral ceremony subject to any directions issued by the Director General of Health ('Director General').

4. The MCO Regulations also specify conditions applicable to the permitted movements. A person–

a. moving for the purpose of purchasing food, medicine, dietary supplement, daily necessities or any other goods from any provider of essential services must restrict his movement to a place within a radius of not more than 10 km from his residence, or to a place nearest to his residence if such goods are not available at a place within such 10-km radius, and may be accompanied by one person staying in the same house with him;

b. seeking healthcare or medical services must restrict his movement to a place within a radius of not more than 10 km from his residence, or to a place nearest to his residence if such services are not available at a place within such 10-km radius, and may be accompanied by not more than two other persons;

c. performing any official or judicial duty shall produce an authorisation letter from his employer, if required by an authorised officer;

d. providing or performing any duty in relation to any essential services shall provide the necessary proof as required by an authorised officer;

e. providing humanitarian aid to any person affected by any natural disaster, shall provide the necessary proof as required by an authorised officer and may be accompanied by any other person subject to any directions issued by the Director General;

f. attending learning or performing any duty at any learning institution, or carrying out any works on any infrastructure, shall provide the necessary proof as required by an authorised officer;

g. carrying out the business of selling food shall carry out business by way of drive-through, take away or delivery subject to any directions issued by the Director General; and

h. moving due to a special and particular reason must obtain the prior written permission of the police officer in charge of the police station nearest to his residence.


Health examination upon arrival in Malaysia

Any citizen, permanent resident of Malaysia, expatriate or diplomatic corps, or any foreigner permitted by the Director General of Immigration, entering Malaysia from overseas may be directed to undergo health examination upon arrival in Malaysia at any point of entry, or at any other place determined by the Director General. A person who is directed as aforesaid to undergo quarantine at any place is required to wear a wristband provided by an authorised officer.

Foreign employees to undergo Covid-19 detection test

To prevent and control the spread of Covid-19 at a workplace, an authorised officer may direct any employer who employs a foreign employee to cause the foreign employee to undergo a Covid-19 detection test, and the charges for such test shall be borne by the employer.

The CMCO Regulations

The CMCO Regulations apply to the states of Pahang, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Terengganu and Kelantan. Similar to the MCO Regulations, the CMCO Regulations have effect for a period of 14 days from 13 January 2021 to 26 January 2021 ('CMCO Period').

Among the measures under the CMCO Regulations are the following -

Prohibited activities

The following activities are prohibited during the CMCO Period -
  1. Participation or involvement in any procession by any person;1
  1. Outbound tour activities by a citizen and inbound tour activities involving foreign tourists entering Malaysia except foreign tourists from countries as specified by the Minister of Health;2
  1. Activities in pubs and night clubs, except restaurant business in pubs and night clubs;3 and
  1. Any activity with many people in attendance at a place making it difficult to carry out social distancing and to comply with the directions of the Director General.
Control of movement and gatherings
  1. No person shall move from one place to another except with the approval of an authorised officer.
  1. The restrictions of movement of persons under the CMCO Regulations from or to a place that is subject to an enhanced movement control order, or for the purposes of examination or attending learning at a learning institution are substantially similar to the corresponding restrictions of movement of persons under the MCO Regulations.
  1. A person is permitted to gather or be involved in a gathering including congregate to perform prayers at any place of worship of his religion subject to any directions issued by the Director General.4
Public transport

Any land, sea or air public transport is only permitted to carry such number of passengers in accordance with the directions issued by the Director General.

Health examination upon arrival in Malaysia and foreign employees to undergo Covid-19 detection test

The requirements under the CMCO Regulations for a health examination upon arrival in Malaysia and for foreign employees to undergo Covid-19 detection test are substantially similar to the requirements under the MCO Regulations.

The RMCO Regulations

The RMCO Regulations apply to the states of Perlis and Sarawak and have effect for a period from 13 January 2021 to 31 March 2021. The RMCO Regulations are substantially similar to the CMCO Regulations except any person may move from one place to another subject to directions of the Director General.

Comments

The prohibitions and restrictions imposed under the MCO Regulations are more lenient than those imposed under previous MCO5 whereas the prohibitions and restrictions imposed under the CMCO Regulations and the RMCO Regulations are substantially similar to those imposed under the previous CMCO6 and RMCO7. All economic activities except those in the MCO States are expected to be fully operational with remote working policies in place and subject to strict adherence to the relevant SOPs.

The Government of Malaysia has taken the bold but necessary move to implement an MCO in the states and federal territories which are the primary drivers of Malaysia's economy that contribute 66.3% of the country's Gross Domestic Product, in order to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in the community. We remain cautiously hopeful that these measures announced by the Government of Malaysia will succeed in containing the spread of the Covid-19 virus in the Malaysian community, but we should also be prepared for these measures to be extended if the Covid-19 situation in Malaysia does not improve.

Footnotes
1 Regulation 8 of the CMCO Regulations and the RMCO Regulations.
2 Parargaph 1 of the Schedule to the CMCO Regulations and the RMCO Regulations.
3 Parargaph 2 of the Schedule to the CMCO Regulations and the RMCO Regulations.
4 Parargaph 3 of the Schedule to the CMCO Regulations and the RMCO Regulations.
5 The previous MCO was from 18 March 2020 to 3 May 2020.
6 The previous CMCO was from 4 May 2020 to 9 June 2020.
7 The previous RMCO was from 10 June 2020 to 12 January 2021.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.