Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob today announced all economic and social sectors - except those on the essential service list - will not be allowed to operate under the "total lockdown" that will come into force next Tuesday.

They include offices, retailers, factories and malls. In the case of malls, only tenants on the essential service list can operate.

"This will reduce the number of workers from 15 million to 1.5 million," he said in a televised address.

Ismail said the goal was to reduce the movement of people in a bid to contain the spread of Covid-19.

The list of 17 sectors that are allowed to operate includes food and beverage, health services including veterinary care, and security services including welfare.

The full list of sectors allowed to operate is as follows:

• Food and beverage, including for animals
• Health care and medicine including dietary supplements, animal care and veterinary services
• Water
• Energy
• Security and safety, defence, emergency, welfare and humanitarian assistance
• Solid waste management, public sanitisation and irrigation
• Land, water and air transportation
• Port, shipyard, and airport services including unloading, lightering (cargo transfer between vessels), cargo handling, pilotage and commodity storage or bulking
• Communications including media, telecommunications and internet, postage, courier as well as broadcasting (for purposes of information dissemination, news and related matters
• Banking, insurance, takaful and stock market
• Community credit (pawnshop and Ar-Rahnu)
• E-commerce and information technology
• Extraction, distilling, storage, supply and distribution of fuel and lubricants
• Hotels (only for purposes of quarantine, isolation, work for essential services and not for tourists)
• Critical construction, maintenance and repairs
• Forestry services (limited to enforcement) and wildlife
• Logistics limited to delivery of essential services

Ismail said factories have also been ordered to shut down except those on the approved list, and operations are allowed only at 60 percent capacity.

The full list of factories under the manufacturing sector allowed to operate is...