Ismail Sabri was sworn in as prime minister last week, succeeding Muhyiddin Yassin who had resigned after failing to cling onto a razor-thin majority in parliament
There is no clear successor for Muhyiddin, who will be the shortest-serving premier in Malaysian history, but an election looks unlikely as the country faces its worst Covid-19 wave yet and an economic downturn
The resignation, if confirmed, would end a tumultuous 17 months in office for Muhyiddin but also bring more uncertainty to Malaysia as the country grapples with a COVID-19 surge and economic downturn
Muhyiddin has been under mounting pressure to quit after Malaysia's king last week issued a rare rebuke of a government move to revoke emergency laws without his approval
Security Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said Kuala Lumpur and several districts in Selangor will see stricter measures imposed from Saturday for a period of two weeks.
Only essential busineses, including factories producing food and daily necessities are allowed to operate, he said.
The health ministry also reported 98 deaths of people who had tested positive for COVID-19, another daily record. The latest figures took the total number of cases in the country to 558,534 and deaths to 2,650.
Malaysia has seen a surge in coronavirus incidence in recent weeks, partly due to highly transmissible variants.
Muhyiddin said the stricter lockdown from June 1 to 14 was for all social and economic sectors, and that only essential services would remain in operation.
"With the latest rise in daily cases showing a drastically upward trend, hospital capacity across the country to treat COVID-19 patients are becoming limited," Muhyiddin said in a statement.