Malaysia is fighting the rapidly escalating coronavirus outbreak, which has strained the country’s medical system.

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin (Muhyiddin Yassin) announced that beginning in June, a nationwide “total lockdown” has occurred as the country’s coronavirus infections have soared to record levels.

Muhyiddin said that from June 1 to 14, stricter bans will apply to all social and economic sectors, and only basic services and economic sectors will continue to operate, which will be listed by the National Security Council.

Officials believe that more contagious variants have contributed to the spread of the disease, and rallies were held in Muslim-majority countries during the Ramadan month of Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr holiday earlier this month.

Muhyiddin said in a statement on Friday: “With the latest increase in daily cases showing a sharp upward trend, the capacity of hospitals across the country to treat COVID-19 patients is being limited.”

Malaysia reported 8,290 new coronavirus cases last Friday. This is the fourth consecutive day that it has set an infection record, bringing the total to 549,514. The daily death toll has also reached a record, with 63 people earlier this week.

It reported 61 deaths on Friday, for a total of 2,552 people.

Although moderate by global standards, its outbreaks have increased rapidly in recent weeks, with the number of patients in intensive care units and ventilators reaching a record high.

A medical worker in protective clothing was tested at the free COVID-19 coronavirus test site in Shah Alam [File: Mohd Rasfan/ AFP]

Malaysia has already begun its COVID-19 vaccination campaign, although critics say that the promotion is progressing slowly. As of Thursday, about 1.7 million people had received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Muhyiddin said that in view of the complete shutdown of the economy, the Ministry of Finance will soon announce a rescue plan for individuals and economic sectors.

He said that if Malaysia can reduce the number of cases in the first two weeks of the embargo, the government will allow certain sectors to slowly reopen in the next four weeks, after which all economic sectors will be allowed to operate.

Since last year, Malaysia has launched a stimulus package of more than 300 billion ringgit (72.6 billion US dollars) to alleviate the impact of the pandemic on the economy.

Since January, the country has been in a state of emergency to contain the spread of the virus, suspend the operation of parliament, and fundamentally end political activities in the struggle for power.

Before infections began to surge, Malaysia’s economy was on the road to recovery in the first quarter.

It fell 5.6% in 2020, Worst annual performance Since the Asian financial crisis, the central bank expects this year’s growth rate to be 6-7.5%.

The coronavirus pandemic has led to a panoramic view of Kuala Lumpur’s empty streets during the lockdown [File: Lim Huey Teng/Reuters]