The government has imposed a 14-day Movement Control Order from the 18th of March to the 31st of March 2020 on a nationwide scale to curb the spread of the Covid-19 infection in Malaysia. Announcing to the nation in a special proclamation on last Monday night (16th of March 2020), Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the order will mean a ban on all mass gatherings for religious, sport, social and cultural activities.
In the midst of restricted movement, the initial list of essentials as outlined by the government consisted of water, electricity, energy, telecommunications, post, transportation, irrigation, oil, gas, fuel and lubricants, broadcasting, finances, banking, health, pharmacies, fire and rescue, prisons, ports, airports, security, defence, public cleansing, retail and food supply.
However, there have been a few additions to the gazetted list as of today (18th of March 2020) with the authority of Malaysia’s Health Minister Datuk Dr Adham Baba. According to the Star, the government has gazetted hotels and accommodations, e-commerce and postal services, petrol stations, telecommunications and public transport among the essential services under the movement control order that went into effect this morning. The full list of the latest Federal Gazette is available for public viewing at the Federal Government Gazettes’ official website.
According to the Malay Mail, in an immediate response, the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) said the government’s addition of hotels this morning to the “essential services” list does not mean that hotels can continue to operate as usual.
The association stressed that hotels may only continue serving existing guests and not accept new guests despite being added to the government’s list of essential services.
“All other facilities and services of the hotel are to remain closed. Hotels are also allowed to keep bare minimum staff on premise during the period for critical needs such as security and engineering,” said MAH president Kamaruddin Baharin, as reported by the Malay Mail.
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