KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 — The government has announced several flexible measures to the standard operating procedure (SOP) in the fourth phase of the movement control order (MCO), starting with allowing two individuals to travel in one vehicle.
Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the government had today decided to relax the previous restriction of only having one person in a vehicle.
He said that there were a lot of requests to have more people traveling in one vehicle.
“As such, in order to facilitate and allow some flexibility, we have decided to allow two people to travel in a car but they must be staying in the same house and are immediate family members,” said Ismail Sabri during his daily press briefings that was broadcasted “live” today.
Ismail Sabri said the decision was based on the social distancing between those living in the same household.
“They are staying under one roof and if there are no positive Covid-19 cases in their household, this means that they are safe.
“That is why we allow immediate family members such as husband and wife, husband and child or wife and child to travel together,” said Ismail Sabri.
However, he stressed that more than two persons in a car is not allowed.
Ismail Sabri, who is also the defence minister, said the government has also allowed for those going out to buy food, daily necessities and medical treatment to travel beyond the 10km radius limit throughout the fourth phase of the MCO.
He added that previously it was police’s discretion to allow or disallow those intending to travel beyond the 10km radius from their homes.
“However, the public should not travel to areas that are too far away from their residential areas but to find the nearest shop that is located within the 10km radius of their respective homes.
“For instance, if a person needs to go to the clinic and it is 15km away from his house, we will allow it.
“But one should not go to a clinic that is 30km away. Go to the nearest,” reminded Ismail Sabri.
In the previous MCO phases, the authorities only allowed one person per vehicle within a 10km radius of the person’s home.
Ismail Sabri said the two amended items have been gazetted under the fourth phase of the MCO.
Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri said since yesterday the police and Armed Forces had conducted a total of 828 roadblocks and inspected 637,982 vehicles nationwide.
In addition, he said there were 37,753 surprise inspections and 6,669 premises inspected by the authorities.
“Police arrested 643 individuals compared to 489 individuals the day before for flouting the MCO, including 576 who have been remanded and 67 on police bail.
“A total of 947 individuals have also been charged in court for violating the MCO, while the total cumulative arrests as of yesterday is at 21,749,” said Ismail Sabri.
The country has been on partial lockdown as a preventive measure against the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic since March 18.
Yesterday saw the end of the MCO’s third phase while the fourth phase kicks off today and will be enforced until May 12.
