KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 — Due to a spike in Covid-19 infections, an enhanced movement control order (EMCO) will be put in place in several localities in Pahang, Sabah and Sarawak for two weeks starting this Thursday until July 21.

Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the EMCO in Pahang involves two Orang Asli villages — Kampung Kerpal and Kampung Pinang in Rompin.

He said six positive cases were found out of 120 screened for the disease to date.

The EMCO in Sabah affects Kampung Sri Menanti in Tawau.

Ismail said public health officials reported 15 people positive for Covid-19 out of 36 people tested.

The EMCO in Sarawak affects Kampung Mambong in Kuching.

Health officials found 19 new cases out of 36 people tested. The positivity rate was found to be 53 per cent, said Ismail Sabri.

He said the government also decided to expand the area for another place in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah that is already under EMCO.

The area extends from Perkampungan Pulau Gaya and will now cover several other villages, namely Kampung Kasuapan, Kampung Lok Urai, Kampung Pulau Gaya and Kampung Pondo.

Health officials recorded a rise in new cases in the locality; 215 new positives were recorded from 1,339 screening tests, with another 25 samples awaiting result, said Ismail Sabri.

38 foreigners were screened for Covid-19 yesterday, and four were found positive.

He added that the screening programme is a Human Resource Ministry’s initiative.

To date, 700,344 foreign workers have been sent by 36,395 employers for tests at 1,544 clinics nationwide. From those numbers, 10,383 workers were found positive, said Ismail Sabri.