JOHOR BARU, May 29 — Johor Pakatan Harapan (PH) called on the federal government to urgently provide immediate financial and economic assistance for Malaysians, following its decision for a nationwide "total lockdown.”

Johor PH said the government must manage the total lockdown from June 1 until 14 carefully as it would increase the people’s hardship financially and socially.

"The federal government needs to immediately announce economic stimulus packages, to assist in lessening the people’s burden.

"The announcement can be in the form of financial assistance and also a moratorium in an effort to aid those affected by the total lockdown,” Johor PH said in a statement.

The statement bore the names of Johor Opposition Leader Aminolhuda Hassan who is also the state Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) chief and his PKR and DAP counterparts Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh and Liew Chin Tong respectively.

The Opposition coalition’s statement was in response to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) that announced a total lockdown for 14 days, during which all social and economic activities are prohibited.

Earlier, the country recorded a shocking daily new Covid-19 figure that exceeded the 8,000 threshold for the first time.

Johor PH also expressed concern over the recent increase in the new Covid-19 cases.

"We (Johor PH) urge that the announcement must be followed up with the federal government’s commitment to increase Covid-19 screening rates so that the actual infection rates can provide better preventative measures.

"The authorities also need to intensify contact tracing efforts to stop the Covid-19 transmission chain and effectively end the epidemic,” said the statement.

At the same time, Johor PH also called on the federal government to accelerate and prioritise its vaccination efforts among Malaysians.

"This can be achieved based on available information and data that can especially be used on targeted groups or high-risk localities,” it said.

Yesterday, Malaysia recorded 8,290 new Covid-19 cases in what can be seen as an upwards surge in daily infections.