KUALA LUMPUR: Senior Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today denied that the government will reimpose a nationwide Movement Control Order (MCO).
He was asked at a press conference today to comment on whether Malaysia would enter another MCO phase in light of the recent spate of Covid-19 cases in the country.
This as Malaysia recorded 287 new cases yesterday, the highest daily Covid-19 numbers since the novel coronavirus made its appearance in the country.
Ismail Sabri said the government would only enforce targetted MCOs at areas which show a spike in infections.
Although the Health Ministry recorded 287 cases yesterday, a majority of the cases were (isolated in) prisons. For example, 35 out of the 113 cases in Sabah were linked to the Benteng prison cluster.
"Even though there were 129 cases in Kedah, 128 of them were from the Tembok cluster, also involving a prison.
"Other states except Selangor recorded single-digit cases," he said during a press conference after a special National Security Council (NSC) meeting today.
He also said the government would not enforce an inter-state or inter-district travel ban nationwide, as the number of positive cases in many states were still small and under control.
"So for example, if we identify an area in Selangor that suddenly sees a spike in cases, we won't close off the whole state.
"If the increase is in Shah Alam, we will not lock the whole district but the affected area in Shah Alam."
On another matter, Ismail Sabri commented that of the over 13,000 who have entered the peninsular from Sabah, only about 130 had tested positive for the virus, making it roughly one percent.
Of this, Ismail Sabri said not all of them were politicians, adding that theere were also tourists and those who had to go to Sabah for official work matters.
He said this when asked to comment on the widely debated issue on social media of politicians causing the recent spike in cases in the peninsular.