This includes restaurants, kiosks, hawker stalls, convenience stores, laundrettes, optometrists, car wash centres and hair saloons.
Petrol stations will be allowed to operate from 8am to 8pm. Those along the highways will be exempted from this rule.
As for night markets, Ismail said they would be allowed to operate from 4pm to 8pm. Pharmacies will continue to be open from 8am to 10pm.
Social activities, including official government events, are not allowed. Approval is given to individual activities only. Recreational activities are still allowed, but only until 8pm.
In a joint press conference with health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, he said the new rules will come into effect from May 25 and will apply to those in the peninsula and Labuan.
Ismail also announced that 80% of civil servants will be required to work from home, while the same rule will apply for 40% of the workforce in the private sector.
Meanwhile, the frequency of public transport services will be reduced. Its operations will also be limited to only 50% capacity, similar to that under MCO 1.0.
The country has been reporting an increasing number of Covid-19 infections, deaths and clusters the past week. The number of daily cases has also breached the 6,000 mark for four consecutive days.
Ismail said the work-from-home order would affect almost eight million workers from both the public and private sectors.
He added that the government would use the newly developed Hotspot Identification for Dynamic Engagement (HIDE) system to identify Covid-19 hotspots and high-risk areas.
“These high-risk areas will be instructed to shut down immediately,” he said.
The stricter SOPs would be announced and published in detail by the relevant ministries, such as the human resources ministry, international trade and industry ministry (Miti), and transport ministry.
Ismail also announced the establishment of a special task force, consisting of the health ministry, Miti, National Security Council and Bank Negara Malaysia, to review the current situation in the country.
We are live on Telegram, subscribe here for breaking news and the latest announcements.