Three more places on the radar

 

KUALA LUMPUR: Kota Kinabalu, Penampang and Putatan will be placed under conditional movement control order (MCO) beginning tomorrow.

Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said in a statement yesterday that the three areas in Sabah would be placed under a conditional MCO beginning 12.01am tomorrow following a decision during a special meeting of ministers on Sunday.

“Movement in and out of the three areas will not be allowed during this conditional MCO and only essential services such as factories and those connected to essential services will be allowed.

“The International Trade and Industry Ministry will name those essential services involved in these areas, ” he said, adding that the implementation of the conditional MCO there was necessary to curb the spread of Covid-19 and to allow for targeted case identification to be carried out.

Ismail Sabri said among the standard operating procedures that would be in place from tomorrow were:

> Entry into Sabah will be

banned except for those from Sabah, holders of passes issued by the Sabah Immigration Department who are in Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and Labuan, and couples involved in essential services;

> Only two people will be allowed to go out per household to buy food and daily essentials;

> All non-essential services will be closed;

> Restaurants, food shops, grocery shops and sundry shops are allowed to open from 6am to 6pm;

> Food purchases will only be allowed via drive-through, delivery and take-away;

> Petrol stations will only be allowed to open from 6am to 6pm;

> Markets will only be allowed to open from 6am to 2pm;

> Night markets, wholesale markets and pasar tani will not be allowed;

> Clinics, government hospitals and private hospitals will be allowed to open 24 hours;

> Pharmacies and medicine shops will be allowed to operate from 6am to 6pm;

> Activities and services at all airports and ports are allowed to operate while movement of staff and passengers must receive permission from the police beforehand;

> Vehicles carrying essential items are allowed entry and exit with police approval;

> Taxis and e-hailing services are allowed to carry a maximum of two passengers and food deliveries are allowed from 6pm to 8pm;

> Express and transit buses are not allowed to operate;

> For emergencies, movement is allowed with prior applications to the authorities;

> Those working are not allowed to go outside of their area and not allowed to work throughout the conditional MCO;

> Employers must comply with this order and allow staff to go on leave or work from home;

> Only essential services are allowed to work with police approval;

> Mosques, surau, places of worship, private and public institutes of higher learning, schools, kindergartens, nurseries, tahfiz and childcare facilities must remain closed;

> All sports, recreation, social and cultural activities are not allowed; and

> The police are responsible for monitoring and securing infected areas with the help of the Malaysian Armed Forces, Civil Defence Force and Rela.

Ismail Sabri urged anyone with enquiries to contact the Sabah Disaster Control Room at 088-369 434.

“The government will continue discussions with the Sabah government to monitor the situation and get advice from the Health Ministry from time to time before taking any action, ” he said.

On another matter, Ismail Sabri said 979 people were detained with 32 people remanded, three released on bail, while 944 were issued RM1,000 compounds for various recovery MCO violations.

“Among the violations committed included night club activities (seven), social distancing violations (516), not wearing face masks (163), and failure to provide entry log equipment (277), ” he said.

Meanwhile, the compliance operations task force led by the police had performed 53,266 checks to monitor and enforce the SOP for the recovery MCO, he added.

On Ops Benteng, a total of 48 illegal immigrants, two tekong operators and four smugglers were arrested on Sunday with seven vehicles seized, Ismail Sabri said.

On the mandatory quarantine, Ismail Sabri said 38,321 individuals had come back to Malaysia between July 24 and Oct 4.

“Currently there are 8,698 individuals being quarantined, 106 were sent to hospital for treatment while 29,517 individuals have been discharged and allowed to go home, ” he added. - Star