Beginning on 18 March 2020,[2] the MCO was enforced nationwide and encompassed restrictions on movement, assembly and international travel, and mandated the closure of business, industry, government and educational institutions to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

[38] On 14 April, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob stated that compounds will no longer be issued by the police from the next day as the penalties were ineffective on reducing MCO violations, and offenders will be arrested and remanded instead.

[41] During the MCO, PDRM conducted road blocks operations (codenamed "Ops COVID-19") along key points across the country,[42] to monitor travellers and warn them to stay home and abide by the order.

[46][47] From 4 May, in line with the Conditional MCO, PDRM is planning to reduce roadblocks nationwide to focus on social distancing enforcements as well as curbing the entry of illegal immigrants and smuggling activities.

[58] On 30 March, this order is applied to a few hamlets in Sungai Lui, Hulu Langat District, Selangor due to a detection of a cluster involving a madrasa with 71 positive cases.

[62] Similarly, an EMCO order was placed for over 15,000 residents living around the Kuala Lumpur Wholesale Market in Selayang on 20 April until 3 May, following the detection of 20 cases and one fatality from the area.

[64] On 9 November, the Government extended the Enhanced Movement Control Order over several areas in Sabah, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Sarawak in response to a spike in cases nationwide.

[67] On 21 June, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that couples whose marriage registration had been delayed as a result of the Movement Control Order could not complete the process at all permitted NGOs in the country including clan organisations, temples, churches, and religious bodies.

[79] On 7 December, the National Security Council lifted the cap on the number of diners allowed to share tables at restaurants in areas under the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) including Kuala Lumpur.

However, tourism businesses are required to abide by social distancing measures, limit crowds to 200–250 people, check customers' temperatures, wear face masks, and provide hand sanitizer.

Under the RMCO, a range of businesses and activities have been allowed to resume operations including spas, wellness and foot massage centres, cinemas, meetings, seminars, weddings, birthdays, and religious gatherings.

[99] On 21 January, the Malaysian Government extended the country's MCO restrictions in Selangor, Penang, Johor, Malacca, Sabah and the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan until 4 February due to a continuation of rising cases and deaths.

[105] On 16 February, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that the government would extend the MCO for Selangor, Johor, Penang and Kuala Lumpur until 4 March 2021.

Meanwhile, Kedah, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Terengganu, Kelantan, Melaka, Pahang and Sabah as well as the federal territories of Putrajaya and Labuan transitioned back into the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) from 19 February 2021.

[106] On 25 February, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that the meetings, incentives, conferencing and exhibitions (MICE) sector in states under the Movement Control Order would be allowed to resume from 5 March 2021.

[113][114] From 3 May 2021, the Malaysian Government reimposed a two-week Movement Control Order in Johor, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Sarawak, and Selangor in response to a spike in COVID-19 cases.

[137] On 15 June 2021, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin introduced a four-phase National Recovery Plan (NRP) to help the country emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout.

The government also allowed daily and night markets, camping, picnics, and various outdoor individual sports and recreational activities such as jogging, taichi, exercise, cycling, fishing, equestrian riding, skateboarding, archery, hiking, singles tennis and badminton, and golf.

[17] On 1 October, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Melaka, and Kedah moved to Phase 3, as the overall R-naught, daily infections, and ICU COVID-19 patient rates had dropped in those states.

[22] On 9 October, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob confirmed that interstate travel will be allowed to resumed within the next few days once 90% of the adult population has been fully vaccinated.

[189] On 30 September 2020, Negeri Sembilan's Human Resources, Plantation and Non-Islamic Affairs committee chairman J. Arul Kumar announced that the annual ten-day Deepavali carnival, which had been scheduled to be held between 4 and 13 November, had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic following advice from the National Security Council.

During that period, residents will not be allowed to leave the four districts, non-residents and visitors would be barred from entering, and all business activities except those providing essential goods and services would have to cease.

[195] The following day, Senior Minister Ismail announced that the federal government would ban most interstate travel to and from Sabah with the exceptions of emergencies, deaths, and essential services subject to approval from the Ministry of Health.

[212] On 1 February 2021, the "State Investment, Industry and Commerce, and Small and Medium Entreprises" (SMEs) chairman Teng Chang Khim announced that Selangor's Chinese New Year celebration will be held online via social media due to the ongoing pandemic.

[214] Due to recent daily cases rising up to over 2,000, the government has enacted an Emergency Movement Control Order on July 3 for two weeks on most of the state, except for several districts in the north.

In late April, Human Rights Watch's Asia Director Phil Robertson called on the Malaysian government to stop jailing people who had flouted the movement control order, but recommended the use of the newly built facilities to keep lockdown violators.

[226] On 20 June, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob confirmed that 48 individuals had been arrested by the Royal Malaysian Police's Compliance Operations Task Force for violating the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO).

[236] Before Malaysia announced the movement control order, supermarkets across the country began to see a surge in panic buying, and the supply of surgical masks everywhere was out, causing prices to skyrocket.

[255] Yusramizza Md Isa, Senior Law Lecturer at Universiti Utara Malaysia, noted that the government's actions in issuing the MCO are under the auspices of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988.

[258] Civil society organisation Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (Madpet) has stated that a special task force may be formed to assist health ministry, but not the NSC.