Sabah relaxing COVID-19 restrictions while the rest of Malaysia continues to hunker down has gotten a lot of people talking on social media.
Nearly 35,000 tweets about Sabah were posted to the platform ever since it was announced earlier today that Sabahans would be allowed to dine-in at restaurants again and engage in non-contact sports starting tomorrow. State Chief Minister Hajiji Noor said this was part of Phase 1 of the National Recovery Plan in Sabah.
“Thank you Sabah for not following West Malaysia. I can go cycling finally,” one Twitter user said, while another added: “Bye, I’m going to Sabah for a haircut.”
Hajiji’s decision to relax rules despite the ongoing nationwide lockdown makes Sabah the first state to take the lead on the country’s reopening. The Movement Control Order in Malaysia has been extended indefinitely.
Sabah was allowing barbers and hair salons to resume operating as well as streetside stalls selling fruits and groceries with COVID-19 protocols in place. Hajiji said non-contact sports like exercising, golf, fishing, and cycling would also be allowed, along with manufacturing activities such as those related to rubber, cement and paint, furniture, and woodwork.
The easing of restrictions was being implemented even as the area continued to report new COVID-19 infections. Since last year, it has reported 68,767 cases and 537 deaths. Sabah was also slow in vaccinating its nearly 4 million population – of which, only about 250,000 people have so far received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
“Sabah will become the first state in the country to allow dine-in in the current FMCO. Are we the state with the lowest number of cases? No. Are we the state with the highest vaccination rate? Hell NO. So on what basis is this decision made? Are we truly ready?” Twitter user @brandon_pat91 said today.
Full details of Sabah’s reopening will be revealed later.
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