KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 — Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has reminded Malaysian not to “sneak” away back to their respective hometowns to celebrate Hari Raya Aidiladha.
Ismail Sabri pointed to the explosion of Covid-19 cases and clusters from the previous Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations as lessons for all Malaysians to take heed off.
“The government advises the public not to sneak back to their kampung and to remain at home so as not to be infected and infect others.
“The increase in cases as well as clusters due to interstate travel on Aidilfitri should be a lesson so that all parties are not lax in complying with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) in an effort to break the chain of Covid-19 infections,” he said in a statement today.
Ismail Sabri also reiterated the government’s commitment to preventing non-essential interstate travel, such as by increasing police and security personnel presence on the road.
“Yesterday, PDRM (Royal Malaysia Police) reported that a total of 381,952 vehicles had been inspected at roadblocks across the country.
“For the record, since the implementation of the National Recovery Plan, the highest number of vehicles ordered to turn back was on July 16, 2021, which is 4,839,” he said.
Yesterday, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah also urged Malaysians to abide by Covid-19 restrictions, pointing out the explosion of clusters in May stemming from two major festivals — Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Hari Gawai.
Health Ministry statistics showed there were 17,106 new cases, 105 deaths and an outbreak of 267 community clusters from June 1 to July 16.
