The government has announced the loosening of restrictions for public transport, under the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO).

Senior minister (security cluster) Ismail Sabri Yaakob told his daily press briefing today that express buses and airlines are now allowed to operate at full passenger limit, as opposed to the half capacity during the recently concluded Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO).

E-hailing vehicles and taxis can also now carry passengers according to the vehicles' limits, and operate round the clock. Cashless payment is encouraged.

However, all these rides are still subject to strict security measures, such as measuring the passengers' temperatures. Besides, drivers and passengers also have to wear face masks while travelling. The use of hand sanitiser will also be implemented.

Passengers will also have to register themselves either via the MySejahtera app or manually, to facilitate contact tracing, if necessary.

Carpooling in a private vehicle is also now allowed, subject to the said vehicle's capacity.

According to Ismail, the number of vehicles on the road have increased significantly after the government lifted the restriction on interstate travel, from yesterday.

He cited the almost 100% increase in traffic on the Plus highways - from 1.2 million vehicles to 2.04 million vehicles yesterday.

Traffic on the Karak Highway also more than doubled, from 37,789 to 85,985 vehicles, he said.

Malaysia is currently undergoing the RMCO, until Aug 31, 2020, under which more relaxation on public activities was announced.

Under the RMCO, almost all social and economic sectors were allowed to reopen, subject to strict adherence to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

These include morning and night markets, food trucks, and food courts, among others. The domestic tourism sector was also reopened and activities like visiting museums and filming, were allowed to resume.

However, pubs, nightclubs, reflexology centres and theme parks are to remain closed, and gathering for feasts and for religious purposes are still prohibited.

Overseas travel is also included in the no-go list.

Yesterday, Malaysia recorded a record-low of two new COVID-19 infection cases, bringing the total number of infections to 8,338 in the country. 117 people have died here from the disease.


Photo source: Rojakdaily