KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 — Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has warned tonight that nobody should be exempted from the law, as Putrajaya announced an extension to the recovery movement control order (RMCO) until December 31.
He said he supports the Ministry of Health’s proposal to increase the compound for breaking Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) from the current RM1,000.
“The compound should be at least two or three times higher than the present amount. However, the matter must be scrutinised first, with the appropriate amendments made to the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 beforehand,” Muhyiddin said in a special televised address.
He reminded the public that Malaysia still faces the risk of fresh Covid-19 clusters, such as the emergence of the Sivagangga, Tawar dan Sala clusters in Kedah, Sanglang in Perlis, and also several more in Sarawak recently.
“These risks must be handled immediately and controlled with strict and speedy actions before it becomes even more widespread.
“This includes the government’s action to further tighten our nation’s border control. Citizens returning from abroad and foreigners entering Malaysia have been mandated to undergo the mandatory quarantine for two weeks at set quarantining centres,” Muhyiddin said.
Although the prime minister expressed relief at the nation’s gradual social and economic recovery since the RMCO was first implemented, he said the struggle is far from over.
“I realise that we cannot take the risk of a super-spreader virus in Malaysia lightly. Therefore the tight quarantine rules in certain localities will continue to be enforced,” Muhyiddin said.
“To overcome this crisis, various parties are working towards a Covid-19 vaccine, with the World Health Organisation predicting the pandemic will continue to spread for a longer period of time.
“Therefore it is the government’s priority at this time to identify clusters which may emerge domestically and take immediate action to prevent infection from spreading in their respective communities,” he added.
The Health Ministry recorded 10 new Covid-19 cases in the country today with eight being imported cases and two local transmissions.
In his daily Covid-19 press statement, its director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that there are a total of 9,306 cases currently, with 151 active cases that are being treated.
