KOTA KINABALU, May 10 — Sabah will retain the standard operating procedures in place despite a nationwide movement control order starting Wednesday, said a state official.

Sabah spokesperson for Covid-19 Datuk Masidi Manjun said that the state has requested that it remain under the current safety and health guidelines that were proven effective in containing a widespread infection of the disease.

"We will continue with present SOPs with necessary adjustments even if we are under MCO as agreed at the MKN meeting this afternoon,” he said when contacted today.

"Until further announcement, Sabah will retain the current SOPs as usual whether we are under the conditional movement control order or MCO,” he said.

In a surprise move earlier, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced that the whole country will be put under a lockdown beginning May 12 until June 7, a four-week period as opposed to the usual two.

He said that the drastic and sudden move was necessitated by rapidly rising Covid-19 case numbers.

In a statement, he also announced additional restrictions to the MCO such as workplace and vehicular capacity limits.

Sabah’s current SOP, which began today, prohibits interdistrict travel but allows most economic activities including dine-in, vehicle capacity, operation hours until midnight and the operation of malls Sabah listed in the Hotspot Identification for Dynamic Engagement (HIDE).

Sabah’s number of Covid 19 cases daily have been mostly consistent under 100, save for a few days when a new cluster was identified. Today it registered 96 cases with one death.