319 returnees sent to quarantine stations yesterday - Ismail Sabri

He said they have been placed at four quarantine stations in the city centre, Negeri Sembilan and Johor.

“These people came from 12 countries, namely Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Brunei, Qatar, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, India, the United Arab Emirates, China and Australia.

“The decision to reopen these quarantine stations for the 14-day mandatory quarantine was made after considering the rise in import cases and the people’s failure to comply with the standard operating procedure (SOP), which in turn increased the risk of COVID-19 infection,” he said in a statement here today.

On Tuesday, Ismail Sabri announced that foreigners and Malaysians who entered the country from overseas must undergo the mandatory quarantine at designated quarantine stations beginning July 24 instead of at their homes.

He said they have to bear the full cost of quarantine, whether at public training institutes or hotels, based on the amount agreed previously.

Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri said the police arrested 330 individuals for violating the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) yesterday, and of this number, 23 were remanded, three were released on bail and 304 were issued compounds.

“All of them were involved in activities with huge crowds which made it difficult to maintain social distancing,” he said.

On the Compliance Operations Task Force, Ismail Sabri said the police conducted 63,511 inspections yesterday to monitor and enforce compliance with the RMCO standard operating procedure.

He added that the police also arrested 11 foreigners yesterday for various immigration offences in Op Benteng, which was held to secure the country’s borders from illegal immigrants and to curb the spread of COVID-19.

During the operation, 65 roadblocks and 34,967 inspections were carried out to check the entry of illegal immigrants.