Former deputy health minister Dr Lee Boon Chye and Malaysian Medical Association president Dr Subramaniam Muniandy told FMT they believed the ruling was appropriate considering the current rates of transmission.

Lee urged those seeking a relaxation of the rule to be patient, saying it was meant to reduce the number of people outdoors.

Subramaniam described the ruling as a good means of controlling the spread of the virus.

They were responding to the Malaysian Retailers Association’s complaint that the restriction was keeping crowds away from shopping malls in the Klang Valley.

It is appealing to the National Security Council (MKN) to allow four from the same household to be in one car to help boost the sluggish retail and restaurant businesses.

The Klang Valley has been under the CMCO since Oct 14. The order is scheduled to expire on Dec 6.

Lee said retailers should consider the seriousness of the third wave of Covid-19 infections and accept the two-to-a-car ruling until the situation had improved.

“Let’s hope there will not be any fourth or fifth wave and let’s hope there is a vaccine soon,” he added.

Subramaniam said he feared people would start asking for further relaxation of the rules if the government agreed to allow more than two persons in a car.

He said one of the benefits of the ruling was that children, who are highly susceptible to infection, would generally be kept at home.

“If the government allows more people in a car, the fast-food chains and other restaurants will start getting crowded and that will pose a danger,” he added.

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