10% of Malaysians not obeying restrictions, says minister

Saifuddin Abdullah, the minister for communications and multimedia, was interviewed by Bernama and RTM today. (Bernama pic)

PUTRAJAYA: About 10% of Malaysians have continued to flout the regulations of the Movement Control Order, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah today, urging all to play their role to curb the spread of Covid-19.

“The 10% who are not complying are about three million Malaysians, this may be a small number but in the context of Covid-19, even 300 is a big number, and something we must tackle, because each person has a role to play to reduce the number of cases,” he said.

“We see videos which have been viralled of children playing outside and people exercising outdoors during the movement control order period,” he said at a media conference with Bernama and RTM today.

Saifuddin said the government must handle the Covid-19 outbreak with great care and discipline as the situation was unprecedented.

“We are used to disasters like fires, landslides, the tsunami and floods, but Covid-19 is more than anything we have experienced before.

“In a war, we know where our enemies are or in chemical warfare, we may be able to stop the chemical from affecting an area, but we are now facing a virus which is alive for a certain period of time, that is why the experts are saying we have to take extraordinary precautions,” he said.

That was why it was critical for everyone to abide by the government’s order to stay indoors until March 31, he said. - FMT