JERANTUT: The government has no plans to impose a blanket Movement Control Order(MCO) nationwide but will carry out targeted lockdowns extensively in the wake of rising Covid-19 cases.
Describing the targeted lockdown as more suitable, Senior Minister (Security) cluster Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said it will be done based on the number of rising cases at certain areas and localities.
"We will start with the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) involving villages at a small-scale followed by localities and when the cases continue to spike then the EMCO will involve the entire district. Then, if there are too many areas which fall into the lockdown category, the government will impose the MCO at high-risk areas.
"For example, Pahang Menteri Besar (Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail) had contacted me saying the Pahang National Security Council (NSC) had suggested to the NSC at federal level for Kuantan to be under MCO.
"There is no announcement yet, but it will only involve Kuantan or maybe certain localities, but it will not involve neighbouring Pekan," he told reporters after opening a bailey bridge today which was built by the Armed Forces at Kampung Sungai Putat here to replace the concrete bridge which was damaged during the floods.
Ismail Sabri was responding to a question if the government was mulling another round of a "full lockdown' nationwide following the increase in the number of cases over the past few days.
Meanwhile, he agreed that there might be an increase in areas placed under MCO ahead of Aidilfitiri as there was an immediate need for "intervention" from the government to help tackle the rise in the number of cases.
"Anything can happen.....based on data provided by the Health ministry, the cases could rise up to 5,000 or spike to 10,000 after Aidilfitri in July or August. The NSC technical committee meeting today will discuss the possibilities to impose MCO ahead of Aidilfitri.
"Decisions on the types of intervention discussed during the meeting will be announced during my press conference today or tomorrow," he said when asked on possibilities of MCO being implemented before Aidilfitri.
On a separate matter, he said the targeted lockdown areas were identified under the Hotspot Identification for Dynamic Engagement (HIDE) system, which is linked with the MySejahtera application.
"It will be able to identify list of Covid-19 hotspots and allow the public to plan their movements in order to prevent contracting the Covid-19 virus. HIDE displays areas potential to contribute to a cluster outbreak if proactive intervention is not implemented," he said.