Alor Setar Prison area under 14-day TEMCO from Oct 6 - Ismail Sabri

He said this was to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the area and to enable targeted case detection activities to be carried out.

"The Health Ministry (MOH) has confirmed a rise in positive COVID-19 cases in the prison area.Based on this, the government, on the advice of the Health Minister, has decided to implement TEMCO in an administrative manner,” he said in a statement on the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) today.

He said that during the TEMCO period, all movements in and out of the area would not be allowed, including visits by families of detainees.

Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri said 433 individuals were caught for violating the RMCO yesterday, with 345 being compounded, 60 remanded and the rest released on bail.

He said the violations included 157 cases of failing to wear face masks, engaging in pub and nightclub activities (126), failure to provide equipment or record of personal particulars (49), not practising physical distancing (46), gambling activities (36), hiring foreigners without valid permits (18) and arrest of an illegal immigrant.

On Operasi Benteng, Ismail Sabri said 76 illegal immigrants and a smuggler were arrested yesterday during an integrated operation involving the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF), Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), Immigration Department, Royal Customs Department, Malaysian Border Control Agency (AKSEM) and other agencies closely guarding the country’s borders.

"Of this number, the First Regiment Royal Armoured Corps of MAF nabbed 27 illegal immigrants without valid identification documents who were trying to leave Malaysia through non-gazetted routes around Hotel Tiara, Desaru, Bandar Penawar, Johor,” he added.

He said 101 roadblocks under Operasi Benteng were mounted by PDRM, AKSEM and MAF yesterday.

“The government will take firm action against anyone who tries to enter the country illegally, and enforcement agencies will continue to tighten control in the border areas especially at rat trails,” he said.

He also said that between July 24 and yesterday, 40,607 individuals had returned to the country via international entry points and had been placed at 67 hotels and 12 other premises including public training institutes and private education institutions.

Of this number, 9,138 individuals were undergoing compulsory quarantine, 106 had been sent to hospital for treatment, and 31,363 had been discharged and allowed to return home, he added.

He said the returnees came from 34 countries - the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Singapore, Vietnam, Brunei, Laos, Qatar, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, India, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Turkey, South Korea, Iran, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Timor Leste, Taiwan, China, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Egypt, Spain, France, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Ethiopia.