Chinese New Year is traditionally a time for grand family reunions, but such festivities will not be allowed this year in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the celebrations will be confined to members of the same household who are living together, at least for those outside Sarawak.
House-to-house visitations, interdistrict travel and interstate travel are all prohibited.
Likewise, prayers at temples are prohibited except for up to five members of the temple committee, and other members of the Chinese committee are encouraged to perform their prayers at home instead.
Events such as lion dances, opera performances and Chingay parades are prohibited.
Ismail said these restrictions are similar to those imposed during the Hari Raya Aidilfitri festivities last year, as well as Deepavali celebrations in parts of the country that were under enhanced movement control order at the time.
“For Sarawak, we will leave it to the Sarawak government to make the announcement since some parts of Sarawak are under MCO, and some are under conditional MCO,” he added.
The announcements come after the second MCO (MCO 2.0), that was due to expire at midnight tonight, was extended until Feb 18.
Chinese New Year falls on Feb 11 this year and is traditionally celebrated for 15 days.
The MCO 2.0 was implemented in several states and territories beginning Jan 13 after the rising number of Covid-19 cases pushed the healthcare system to its breaking point, and then expanded to the rest of the country, except parts of Sarawak.
The MCO 2.0 has been more lenient than the one implemented on March 18 last year by allowing more sectors of the economy to operate.
Nevertheless, many businesses are pleading for the MCO to be lifted fearing that many would not survive its economic impact.
On the other hand, data from the Health Ministry’s National Institute of Health showed that up to Feb 1, the restrictions under MCO 2.0 have failed to bring down Covid-19’s infectivity.
The government has promised that the MCO 2.0 extension would come with tougher restrictions, including stiffer penalties, but it is also allowing more sectors of the economy to operate. - Mkini
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