Interstate travel possible by Mar 18 if Covid numbers low – expect ‘green bubbles’, not blanket reopening

The conditional MCO (CMCO) starts today for Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Penang – states previously under the MCO – while Kedah, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Sarawak and Perak remain under the CMCO. Except for Sabah, inter-district travel within a state is now permitted, but interstate travel is still not allowed.

According to health minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba, the interstate travel ban may be lifted as early as March 18, if the country’s Covid-19 numbers fall to manageable levels. He added that it will not be a blanket reopening of state borders like what happened last year, to prevent a fresh spike in cases.

“We learnt for a year from the MCO, EMCO, CMCO and the RMCO. So we know that interstate travel restriction is one of the measures needed to reduce case numbers,” he told Malay Mail in an interview, pointing out that domestic travel restrictions have also been put in place in countries like Australia, China, South Korea and even Singapore.

“So we have decided that there will be no interstate travelling until March 18. After March 18, we will see if the data have shown improvement, as we have already succeeded in bringing down the curve at the moment,” he said, adding that the government is looking to allow “green bubbles” for safe domestic travel.

“We will take measures to allow interstate travel based on certain matters and this is important. We will try to develop green bubbles. Travel between states under RMCO. Secondly we will ensure that if the public can abide by the SOPs, carry on. Meaning we can allow. Thirdly, if they are using MySejahtera, they can know and identify hotspots,” Adham said, adding that travellers must be aware of the status of the areas (green, yellow, red or orange zones) they want to visit.

Malaysia’s Covid-19 cases have come down to below 2,000 a day for the past week, except for yesterday, where there were 2,063 new infections.

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