Exodus threatens containment effort and 9 news from yesterday

KINI ROUNDUP | Here are key headlines you may have missed yesterday, in brief.

1. Crowds gathered at bus terminals and police stations in a bid to make travel arrangements as the movement control order looms, which experts warned could defeat the purpose of the restrictions and backfire.

2. Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador issued a directive requiring the people to notify the police before travelling across state borders while the movement control order is in effect. However, his instruction was suspended hours later, after large crowds gathered at police stations to seek exemptions.

3. Malaysia recorded its first two Covid-19 deaths – a 60-year old pastor, and a 34-year old participant at a tabligh gathering who was otherwise healthy. The number of cases yesterday grew by 120.

4. The heads of governments of Selangor, Penang, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah and Sabah were left out of a meeting to coordinate efforts to combat the spread of Covid-19, after what the government chief secretary described as a ‘mistake’.

5. All court trials will be postponed in light of the movement control order, but remand proceedings will continue.

6. Sabah has tightened its border controls by requiring non-Sabahans to obtain written permission before entering the state, as well as a medical certificate stating that they are free of Covid-19.

7. The government will find it difficult to fulfil its promise to pay workers forced to go on unpaid leave of RM600 per month, said former domestic trade minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, because falling oil prices have hit government revenue.

8. Some grocers are offering special shopping hours for senior citizens and people with disabilities.

9. Supermarkets gave an assurance to the people that they have sufficient stock to meet demands, and there is no need for panic-buying.

10. For the fourth day in a row, the number of imported Covid-19 cases in China - where the disease was first reported - has exceeded the number of local transmissions.