KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 — The conditional movement control order (CMCO) was decided by the government to help the public to learn how to be more responsible with their health and wellbeing, Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said.

In a way, he said, by reducing regulations under the CMCO, it will help the public adapt to the lifestyle practices of the “new normal”.

“The rules are still the same, but what is important is that everyone knows how to take care of themselves like how they care for their family members.

“This is already proven by the fact that even after we allowed restaurants and malls to resume operations, people prefer to stay at home as they do not want to risk their health,” he said during a “live” talk show on Bernama TV tonight.

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He said the ability to adapt is important as it could take as long as two years before a vaccine for the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) can be discovered.

“As long as there is no vaccine for Covid-19, the virus is still around us.

“We can't wait for two years to pass before restarting the economy and relaxing certain regulations set under the MCO.

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“So we open now, so that people can learn how to be responsible and not always have to depend on laws to teach people how to take care of themselves and their families,” he added.

Under the CMCO, Malaysians may now move fairly freely about within any “infected local area” — otherwise known as states or federal territories, or in other words without crossing state borders — with only one restriction mentioned: they are not allowed inside enhanced MCO areas unless sending food or providing medical services.

The CMCO also allows those driving a private vehicle to ferry a maximum of four people in each — namely the driver and three passengers — provided that all four of them stay in the same house.

Operation hours for businesses have also been extended to 10pm instead of 8pm, and eateries are allowed dine-in customers with SOPs in place.