KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 — The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) will increase the number of personnel in its Compliance Operation Task Force in public areas following the implementation of the conditional movement control order (CMCO) since yesterday (May 4), said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador.

Without divulging further details on the number of personnel involved in the task force, he said they would be assigned to restaurants, bus stations and supermarkets, which are expected to be crowded.

"PDRM will be more focused on ensuring the public complied with the standard operating procedure (SOP), like social distancing, during the CMCO in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19.

"For example, the previous directive was clear that we permitted four people to be in a vehicle going to any location. This time, police will be stationed at certain locations and act by advising the public to obey social distancing,” he told Bernama today.

Asked if the introduction of this task force would affect the number of personnel at certain road blocks nationwide, Abdul Hamid said it would not disrupt existing assignments.

Bernama reported today that Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that PDRM had formed a task force to monitor and ensure that the standard operating procedure (SOP) was adhered to during the nationwide CMCO period.

Among the agencies under the task force are the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF), Civil Defence Force (APM), Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), People’s Volunteer Corps (RELA) and Immigration Department. — Bernama