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Govt To Deploy The Army From Sunday To Enforce The Restriction Of Movement Order

The move comes after the public continued to defy the order, which was brought in place to help contain the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Cover image via Malay Mail & JPM

Today, 20 March, Defence Minister Ismail Sabri announced that the national army will be deployed from Sunday to help the police in enforcing the two-week-long partial lockdown around the country

According to Malaysiakini, the Defence Minister said the army will assist the police in monitoring the situation to curb the rapid spread of COVID-19 cases in Malaysia.

"Today's meeting decided that the army will help the police in monitoring the situation especially to ensure that the rakyat is following the instructions so that they will stay in their own houses," Ismail said.

"The army will be mobilised this Sunday and we are confident that with the army's help, stricter enforcement can be carried out," the minister added.

Image via Malaysiakini

Malaysia is on the third day of the Restriction of Movement Order (RMO), which came into effect on 18 March to help stop the rapid spread of COVID-19, but public adherence to RMO has been lacklustre.

In fact, an estimated 40% of the country did not comply with the RMO on its first day.

On Thursday, the minister had warned that the government may deploy the army if citizens continue to go against the RMO:

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