The Malaysian king has declared a national emergency up till August 1 to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

The Palace said on Tuesday that King Abdullah Ahmad Shah has assented to the government’s request for an emergency order that will be effective up to Aug 1, or earlier should Covid-19 cases come under control.

“Al-Sultan Abdullah is of the view that the spread of coronavirus in the country is at a very critical stage and there is need to decree an Emergency Proclamation,” the royal comptroller Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said in a press statement.

COVID-19 has killed as many people in the past two months as in the first 10 months of 2020.

Noting that hospitals are nearly full with coronavirus patients, Sultan Abdullah approved the emergency powers for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s administration to control the pandemic.

The statement said the government will form an independent committee of MPs and health experts, which will recommend if an early termination of the emergency is possible.

Malaysia has recorded more than 2,000 new cases daily for the past week, even breaching 3,000 once, leaving the healthcare system on the brink of collapse, with active cases reaching 28,554.

The story was filed by the News Desk. The Desk can be reached at info@thecorrespondent.com.pk.

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