Malaysia Facing Total Lockdown as Coronavirus Case Numbers Soar

Malaysian authorities will impose a two-week total lockdown starting from June 1, in an attempt to regain control over the Coronavirus as case numbers reach record levels.

Urging Malaysians to stay at home, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced late on Friday that all sectors of the economy would have to shut down, except for those classified as essential by the government in a list to be issued before June 1.

The measures tighten those that are currently in place during a lockdown introduced earlier in May and are likely to match those imposed during the country’s first lockdown in 2020, which saw factory and plantation output restricted.

Malaysia’s gross domestic product shrank by around 17 per cent during the second quarter.

Muhyiddin’s statement came after the Health Ministry announced a new one-day record of almost 8,300 cases, with Friday’s virus-linked death toll at 61.

The latest figures mean of a total of 2,552 deaths since the outbreak began, more than 1,000 were recorded this month alone.

The South-East Asian nation, which is home to almost 33 million people, has recorded over half a million virus cases since the first infection was reported early in 2020.

The ministry lists more than 70,000 cases as active.

Meanwhile, around one million people have been vaccinated.

Muhyiddin said that hospital capacity has been stretched but added that “the government will not allow the public health system to collapse.’’