All states gazetted as Covid-19-hit area, ban on inter-state travelling

CORONAVIRUS | The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) today published a federal gazette that bars individuals from travelling to another place designated as an infected area.

The AGC also gazetted all states and three federal territories as infected area.

"No person shall make any journey from one place to another place within any infected local area," read the gazette.

However, there is an exception for those on official duty and those involved in essential services.

Essential services refer to water, electricity, energy, telecommunications, postal services, transport, maritime, fuel, gas, lubricants, broadcast, financial services, banking, healthcare, pharmacies, fire and rescue, prisons, ports, airports, security, defence, cleaning and supplying of food.

This is in line with the government's decision to impose a nationwide movement control order, or partial shutdown, from today (March 18) to March 31.

The police instructed the public to notify the nearest police station for inter-state travelling during the control movement order.

However, the cops were forced to suspend the move after a huge crowd gathered at bus terminals and police stations in a bid to make travel arrangements before the movement control order came into effect.

Meanwhile, the AGC, in another federal gazette published yesterday, banned the export of surgical/medical face masks.

This included one-ply earloop face mask, two-ply earloop face mask, three-ply earloop/headloop/head tie-on face mask and N95 face mask.

The government had repeatedly stressed the supply of face masks is adequate but the people on the ground are facing difficulty in getting them. - Mkini