Malaysia not the first country to declare state of emergency over Covid-19

An armed police officer patrols a roadside checkpoint on the A5 motorway in Madrid, Spain, on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. The Spanish government is set to declare a state of emergency for the Madrid region, as Europe’s leaders step up efforts to contain an unrelenting surge in coronavirus cases across the continent. Photographer: Paul Hanna/Bloomberg

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will not be the first country to declare a state of emergency over the Covid-19 pandemic, with almost 80 nations having it in place in some form.

Most recently was France, which declared a public health state of emergency on Oct 15, which gave officials greater powers to impose new measures to contain the spread of Covid-19.