KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 — Police yesterday arrested 778 people for failing to comply with the standard operating procedures (SOP) of the recovery movement control order (RMCO), with most of them involving 600 attendees of nightclubs.

Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri said out of the 778 people arrested,  673 were issued fines, 98 were remanded, while seven were let go on police bail.

"The various offences include involvement in night club or pub activities, failure to prepare recording equipment for those leaving and entering premises, operating premises overtime, breaching quarantine centres, participating in activities with many people and making it difficult to maintain social distancing, failure to pay quarantine centre fees, and involvement in gambling activities,” he said during a press briefing here.

Ismail Sabri said the government will take sterner action against those caught at pubs and nightclubs as the number of arrests involving such activities have continued to increase.

"We can see that activities in nightclubs still continue. Even though we don’t allow them to open, many still go against the law. We will take sterner action.

"In terms of the number of arrests, the numbers are high because a big part is from arrests at nightclubs and pubs.

"Maybe yesterday’s numbers were high because it was Merdeka and people wanted to celebrate. That could be why there was such a significant increase,” he said.

Ismail Sabri said the Covid-19 compliance task force will work with other relevant agencies to revoke the operating licence of nightclubs and pubs that flout Covid-19 SOPs.

Last Friday, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, when announcing the extended RMCO, reminded Malaysians that nightclubs and entertainment centres will remain closed until December 31 as it would be hard to ensure that health protocols, such as physical distancing, are adhered to.

During yesterday's crackdown against RMCO violators, some 4,768 teams involving 16,508 personnel conducted enforcement operations at 3,841 supermarkets, 5,423 restaurants and 1,929 hawkers.