Public transport to only be available 6am-10am and 5pm-10pm

CORONAVIRUS | Effective tomorrow, public transport will only be available from 6am to 10am and from 5pm to 10pm, said Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said this at a press conference this afternoon in which he relayed the results of a meeting between top-ranked members of the police, armed forces, Rela and other relevant bodies.

"We have noticed that usage of public transport has dropped dramatically during the MCO, particularly during the time when those who are still working are already at their offices," said Ismail.

He added that the control of social distancing of one metre was very hard to enforce on public transport.

However, taxi and e-hailing services could continue their operations as usual, said Ismail.

He also added that petrol stations must provide hand sanitisers for the public to use.

Ismail, who is also Bera MP, said there was a slight increase in the public's compliance with the MCO, from 90 percent to 92 percent.

"Yesterday I said there was 90 percent compliance. Now it has risen slightly to 92 percent. I hope it keeps rising," he said.

He said the cooperation between the police and the military was bearing fruit.

"Yesterday, 1,903 roadblocks were carried out. This is a 98 percent increase compared to before.

"As many as 120,615 vehicles were examined and drivers were advised because many are still going out. The police also did 1,719 broadcasts around the country."

However, he pointed out that many were failing to comply with the one-metre component of social distancing.

"The one-metre component, we are definitely failing. I was at a pasaraya (mini-market) yesterday and definitely people were much closer to one another. Especially at the point of paying their bill, their closeness was much nearer than one metre," he said.

On other matters, Ismail said that the prohibition on interstate movement is still ongoing.

"The ban on movement from state to state, district to district is still being enforced.

"Permission can be obtained in special cases such as a death in the family and accidents. It can be allowed but must be reported to the police," he said.

He also reminded Malaysians they needed permission letters for freedom of movement to carry out work duties.

"You need one from the ministry’s secretary-general (KSU) for government staff and in the private sector you need a letter from your employer.

"We know workers need to cross state borders, for example, someone working in Putrajaya can be from Seremban," he added.

Ismail also said that the meeting had concluded that the price of face masks was too high.

"We will bring it down from RM2 but have not decided yet on what the new price may be," he said. - Mkini