KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has recorded 3,170 COVID-19 cases linked to interstate travels since Jan 1 to date, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

Of the total, he said Kedah recorded the highest number of cases with 714 cases, followed by Perak (582) and Negeri Sembilan (370).

“The number of interstate clusters have also increased since the third wave started on Sept 20, 2020.

“Interstate cluster is a cluster which involves an index case or the first case who was infected with COVID-19 from a different state and subsequently caused local transmissions,” he said in a statement on COVID-19 development here, today.

Following the increase in the number of interstate clusters, the government had announced the implementation of the Movement Control Order and interstate travel restriction from Jan 13.

After the restriction was implemented for a few months, the number of daily new cases involving interstate clusters have shown a consistent decrease with the last cluster reported was on Jan 30, namely the Tersat Cluster in Terengganu.

“To date, there are three active interstate clusters remaining namely the Tembok Mempaga Cluster, Tembok Bukit Besi Cluster and Pasai Cluster,” said Dr Noor Hisham.

He said the interstate cases and clusters did not only resulted in the spread of infection to green zone areas but activities such as going back to hometowns also increase the risk of infection to vulnerable groups such as senior citizens and children.

Therefore, he said the people must always comply with the stipulated standard operating procedures including the interstate travel ban, except for urgent matters and they were required to obtain permission from the police.

-- BERNAMA