KUALA LUMPUR – Starting May 25, the National Security Council will be implementing the enhanced movement control order (EMCO) in one locality in Sabah.
Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the EMCO will be imposed in Taman Abaka, Ladang Table, in Tawau, Sabah, after 37 Covid-19 cases were recorded there recently.
He said the cases were logged from among 135 screenings carried out by the Health Ministry (MoH), adding that the EMCO will be enforced until June 7, 2021.
“MoH also found an apparent rise in cases in a short span of time with a high infectivity rate in the locality,” he said in a statement.
“The implementation of EMCO allows MoH to conduct early detection of cases so they can be separated immediately to break the chain of infection in the area.”
Ismail also said the lockdown in Kg Semporna, Sabah, will be lifted on May 24 as scheduled.
During the EMCO there, MoH had conducted 138 screenings and detected 19 cases.
“MoH has also confirmed that the trend in cases showed a decline, and that the cluster is contained while all positive cases have been treated.”
Meanwhile, Ismail said 644 individuals were arrested yesterday for various offences related to standard operating procedure (SOP) violations.
Of the total, 614 individuals were issued with compounds, while 30 others were remanded.
The violations recorded were failure to record personal details when entering premises (218), failure to wear face masks (126), failure to observe physical distancing (103), failure to comply with movement restrictions (102), crossing state and district lines without permission (5), and others (90).
The minister added that the Compliance Operations Task Force led by the police had conducted 70,849 inspections yesterday to monitor and enforce the SOPs.
Ismail said the combination of MoH’s Public Health Action programme and enforcement of SOPs is “very important” to ensure that the public does not act carelessly, while ensuring that the efforts do not hamper the bid to reduce the number of cases.
“What the government is doing now – adding movement restrictions – is to save the lives of many people, although there is a small number who have yet to accept it,” he said.
“Although there are studies showing that SOP compliance among Malaysians is high, the process of enforcement needs to be tightened and heightened to increase awareness.”
Ismail added that the current third wave of the pandemic is “very worrying”, with the country logging 6,806 cases on May 20.
The minister said the current infection rate, or R-naught of the country, is at 1.2, compared to 0.8 in April.
“There is no other route that can be taken other than to heighten enforcement, as it is more towards raising awareness and not just punishment.” – The Vibes, May 23, 2021
