PUTRAJAYA, 3 Oct 2020:
There is no necessity to re-implement the Movement Control Order (MCO) despite a surge in Covid-19 positive cases in the country, said Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He said this was because most of the cases involved prison inmates in Kedah and Sabah, which can be considered as isolated.
“No…we are not declaring MCO because in Kedah for example, although 129 cases were recorded, 128 of them were from the Tembok Cluster which involved prison inmates there.
“While in Sabah, 35 cases were from the Benteng cluster involving a prison…although the remaining 78 cases are quite high, we have carried out control measures,” he told a press conference after attending the special National Security Council meeting on Covid-19 chaired by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin here today.
Ismail Sabri said Covid-19 cases in other parts of the country were still low except for Selangor with 31 cases but it has not reached the red-zone level.
“Only one or two cases were recorded in other states so this not a worrying matter. If we impose a nationwide lockdown just because one or two cases, we will end up enforcing MCO forever…”
Ismail Sabri said if necessary, the government would implement the Targeted Enhanced Movement Control Order (TEMCO) in areas or localities categorised as a Covid-19 red zone.
As such, he said interstate or inter-district travel restriction would not be imposed at the moment.
“I urge the people not to panic but do not take it (the current Covid-19 situation) lightly and be complacent…always practice a high level of self control as long as we have not found the vaccine.”
Muhyiddin also gave the assurance and commitment of the government to continue handling and curbing the spread of Covid-19 in the country.
The prime minister today said the Covid-19 situation in the country is currently under control and that the spread of the disease can still be curbed with the continuous cooperation of various agencies and ongoing public health monitoring activities by the Ministry of Health (MoH).
“Please be informed that most of the cases occurred among detainees in prisons, in areas under the TEMCO areas, and from clusters that have already been identified and controlled.
“Those areas are being monitored at all times and detection of cases and close contacts are actively being done to ensure that positive cases could quickly be identified and isolated,” he said in the latest posting on his Facebook page today.
To curb the spread of Covid-19 in Sabah, Muhyiddin said the government would also open more temporary detention and quarantine centres to house illegal immigrants before they could be deported to their countries of origin.
He said the government had also increased the number of MoH healthcare workers to carry out screenings on those illegal immigrants, as well as the number of security personnel to control the country’s borders to curb the entry of illegal immigrants, especially in Sabah.
“Assets will be mobilised to stop any border intrusion attempt.”
The prime minister also gave assurance the country’s preparedness is at the highest level and capable of handling Covid-19 infection as what had been done before.
“We have 40 hospitals and 34 quarantine centres with 5,674-bed capacity and low-risk treatment for positive cases of Covid-19. The bed occupancy rate at the hospitals currently stood at only 24%. Our health facilities also have 437 intensive care unit (ICU) beds and 1,505 ventilators.”
Muhyiddin also called on the public to stay calm in facing the current situation of Covid-19 and to continue making the new norms a culture while observing all the standard operating procedures set by the authorities.
“I believe that our frontliners, especially MoH and the security forces, have the capacity and expertise in handling the situation.”
– Bernama