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PETALING JAYA: Chief Security Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today that the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) at Desa Bistari Flats in Batu Uban, Penang, will be lifted today.
EMCO was supposed to end on December 31st.
“The health ministry has completed the detection of Covid-19 in the area and said that positive cases are on a downward trend there,” he said in a statement today.
“Taking into account the advice and risk assessment of the Ministry of Health, the government agreed to end the EMCO at Desa Bistari flats in Batu Uban, Penang, today, which is ahead of schedule.”
On December 18, Ismail had announced that the EMCO would be expanded at the Desa Bistari apartments in Batu Uban and the Persiaran Paya Terubong apartments in Relau until December 31.
EMCO affected some 12,300 people: 10,000 from the flats in Persiaran Paya Terubong and the remaining 2,300 from the Desa Bistari flats.
The areas were placed under an EMCO on December 7 due to the increasing number of Covid-19 cases there.
Today’s announcement made no mention of the flats at Persiaran Paya Terubong.
Meanwhile, Ismail said police arrested 1,002 people yesterday for crimes related to movement control.
A total of 854 received compound fines, while 148 were withheld.
Most of the crimes, he said, were for participating in activities in nightclubs and pubs (687).
Other crimes include participating in activities that make physical distancing difficult (125), not wearing face masks (69) and not providing materials for tracking or recording contacts (63).
A total of 2,454 compliance work teams were deployed to carry out controls in supermarkets, restaurants, street vendors, factories, banks, government offices, as well as land, water and air transportation terminals.
Authorities also detained 35 undocumented immigrants as part of the ongoing Op Benteng.
They also seized three vehicles.
Regarding mandatory home quarantine, Ismail said that 92,607 people who arrived through KLIA were screened for Covid-19 from July 24 to December 25 and were quarantined.
Some 536 tested positive and were sent to hospital for treatment, while 84,865 were allowed to return home.
A total of 7,206 people are in mandatory quarantine.
