COVID-19 Cases Increasing Rapidly, King Of Malaysia Announces State Of Emergency

Quiet illustration of the atmosphere in one corner of Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. (Alfred / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Malaysia's King Al-Sultan Abdullah declared a state of emergency throughout Malaysia to suppress the spread of COVID-19, Tuesday, January 12 local time.

This announcement was made after agreeing to a request from Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. A state of emergency can give the prime minister and cabinet large powers, including passing laws without parliamentary approval.

Launched by Reuters on Tuesday, this emergency will be in effect until August 1 or sooner depending on the success of controlling COVID-19.

"Al-Sultan Abdullah is of the opinion that the spread of COVID-19 is currently in a critical stage and a state of emergency needs to be declared," explained the Palace in a statement.

To note, the King of Malaysia refused a similar request from Muhyiddin in October last year.

Earlier, Prime Minister Muhyiddin announced a national travel ban and lockdown for the next 14 days in Kuala Lumpur and five other states.

Muhyiddin also announced the Malaysian health care system was at a breaking point. The number of new daily infections hit a record high last week at 3,000. The total number of COVID-19 cases in Malaysia reached 138 thousand people with 555 deaths.