KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will relax coronavirus lockdowns next week in three states bordering southern Thailand along with two others that have met targets for lifting curbs, the country’s security minister said on Saturday.
The country has been under a nationwide lockdown since June 1 to rein in a surge of Covid-19 infections.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has said the government would gradually open up the economy and social activities in four phases, based on infection numbers, vaccination rates and the capacity of the healthcare system.
Curbs will be partially lifted in Kelantan, Perak and Perlis — which border on southern Thailand — and on Pahang and Terengganu on Monday as they have achieved their targets for moving to the second phase of lockdown, Security Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, told reporters.
His comments came as stricter measures took effect on Saturday in Kuala Lumpur and the neighbouring state of Selangor, which are among Malaysia’s worst-hit regions.
The country on Saturday reported 6,658 new cases, bringing its cumulative tally of infections to 772,607, with 5,327 deaths.
In Washington, meanwhile, the White House said one million donated doses of Pfizer coronavirus vaccine would arrive in Malaysia on Monday, with plans for more shipments to Southeast Asia soon.
The doses are from an initial batch of 80 million US-made vaccines the Biden administration pledged last month to share globally amid concern about the disparity in vaccination rates between advanced and developing countries.
Edgard Kagan, senior director for East Asia at the White House National Security Council, said the United States was sharing “safe and effective vaccines” with Malaysia in a moment of need and “will be making further shipments to the region in the near future”.
The US has already announced plans to provide vaccines to Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Laos, Papua New Guinea and Cambodia.
On Friday, it said it would ship 4 million doses of Moderna vaccine to Indonesia as soon as possible via the Covax global vaccine-sharing programme.
