Malaysians can now travel across states. But there are a few things you should be aware of.

Malaysians have endured almost three months of partial lockdown, or what the country is calling a Movement Control Order (MCO).

During the MCO period, imposed on March 18, 2020, citizens were requested to stay at home and only go out to buy essentials goods for their homes.

Eventually, the country moved into a Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO), allowing non-essential businesses to operate but with strict rules and guidelines.

As the number of cases dropped, Malaysia seemingly managed to flatten the curve, which allowed them to transition once again into what has been dubbed a Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO). It allowed all businesses and offices to operate while still adhering to the rules and guidelines set during the CMCO.

Now, the Malaysian government has approved public transports to operate as normal while still ensuring that temperatures are checked, and passengers have their facemask on at all times.

This applies to all forms of public transport such as buses, ferries, trains, and planes.

Senior minister for security Ismail Sabri Yaakob said, “Standard operating procedures are in place, and operators must ensure these are followed by the passengers.”

He also added that passengers must still maintain social distancing, wear a facemask, sanitize their hands, and must have the MySejahtera app – Malaysia’s contact tracing app – installed in their phones.

Carpooling is also allowed for those living in different households. However, they still need to wear their facemasks, and the number of passengers are limited to the vehicle’s capacity.

Before this, public transport vehicles like buses could only carry half the normal capacity number, and ehailing vehicles could only operate until 10pm.

The relax of the country’s partial lockdown is all due to the competence of the country in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. On June 10, the country reported only three cases. The number did go up to 31 cases on June 11, but 11 of those were Malaysians returning from overseas, and 16 were from a cluster which has been contained.

The country also lifted its interstate travel ban on June 10, and that caused a spike of vehicles on the road because people were finally able to travel back home.

Yaakob said, “The number of vehicles on the road is increasing. Just yesterday (June 10), the number of vehicles on PLUS highways increased from 1.2 million the day before to 2.04 million – an increase of nearly 100 percent.”

He concluded by saying that authorities will be positioned at R&R stops along the Malaysian interstate highway to ensure that travelers are adhering to the RMCO rules.

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Cover image sourced from MalayMail.