Just moments ago in a special address to the nation on live TV, Malaysian PM Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced the extension of the Movement Control Order (MCO) aimed at curbing the spread of the infectious Covid-19 virus.

The Prime Minister went live at 8:20pm on to deliver his address, announcing the extension of the MCO to from April 28 to May 12.

He also announced students at campus, who did not leave for home at the first phase of the MCO, will now be able to do so soon. The process for students to return home will be aided by the Ministry of Health and the government to make sure everyone goes home safe and healthy. These students will also be checked for the coronavirus before leaving for home.

For people who had already left for home, and want to return to cities where they work, they will allow for a one-way movement to return home. They are currently collecting data to make sure it is done properly.

The specifics will be known in a few days.

The Ministry of Health announced 71 new cases today, bringing the total number of cases to 5603 and 1966 active cases.

42 cases are in the ICU currently with 21 on ventilation support. 19 of the cases are imported cases while 52 are categorised as local transmission cases.

Two fatalities has also been reported, bringing the number of deaths from the outbreak in the country to 95 deaths.

In comparison to earlier this week, the numbers have slightly shot up, as yesterday there were only 50 new cases and one death. 

It’s been six weeks since the Malaysian government first enforced its original two week MCO (Phase 1). One week into phase one however, the government announced yet another two week extension (phase 2), which would’ve brought the MCO to an end on the April 15. It was subsequently extended on April 10 to start from April 15, with a scheduled end date of April 28 (phase 3). With the PM’s latest announcement, the MCO has been extended from April 29 til May 12 (phase 4).