KUALA LUMPUR – The Central Medicare hostel, factory, and construction site in Hilir Perak has been placed under the enhanced movement control order (EMCO) from tomorrow until March 7.
Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said in his daily Covid-19 statement that the Health Ministry (MoH) has reported a spike in cases at the prison and recommended a lockdown on that specific site.
“Up until today, there have been 185 Covid-19 positive cases recorded following screening tests conducted on 1,966 individuals,” he said.
The EMCO is being enforced to ensure approximately 2,808 workers, including locals and foreigners living within the locality and nearby, undergo screening in order to ensure control of the infection rate within the community.
He said that implementing the order would make it easier for MoH to conduct targeted screenings on all prisoners, staff, and their close contacts in order to ensure that infections in the community were contained.
On a positive note, Ismail Sabri announced that the EMCO imposed on the Taiping prison and staff quarters would be lifted from tomorrow onwards following a downtrend in positive Covid-19 cases in the facility.
Meanwhile, the authorities apprehended 493 individuals for breaching Covid-19 standard operating procedures yesterday. Of these, 484 were issued compounds while nine were remanded.
The offences included crossing district or state borders without approval (133 cases), lack of physical distancing (132), failure to prepare equipment to record customer details (117), failing to wear face masks (70), and taking part in entertainment centre activities (15).
There were 13 cases of operating at unauthorised premises or beyond the authorised time, leaving home without reasonable cause (five), taking part in sports activities (two), and others (six).
Border patrols under Ops Benteng led to the arrests of 20 illegal migrants and the seizure of 17 land transportation vehicles. – The Vibes, February 22, 2021