EMCO in 28 mukim in Kedah from May 19 - Ismail Sabri

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 28 mukim in the Kota Setar district, Kedah, will be placed under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) from May 19 to June 1, due to the increase in COVID-19 cases.

Senior Minister (Security Cluster), Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, said that the Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed that the COVID-19 infection had spread to the entire Kota Setar district in just eight days, from May 8 to yesterday, and a total of 799 positive cases had been detected.

He said that as at yesterday, a total of 975 active COVID-19 cases in the entire Kota Setar district, with six mukim were declared as red zones, namely, Mukim Kota Setar with 78 cases; Mukim Mergong (223); Mukim Pengkalan Kundor (143); Mukim Derga (138); Mukim Kangkong (55) and Mukim Anak Bukit (61).

"This makes almost 100 cases recorded daily in Kota Setar on average, which involves several existing clusters, including the latest cluster in the district, the Dah Putih Cluster.

"The implementation of EMCO is to control the movement of residents in this district and to prevent the spread of COVID 19 cases from risk areas to other areas," he said in a statement today.

He added that the EMCO will also be imposed in Kelantan, namely, in Kampung Pauh Lima, Mukim Gunong near Bachok and Kampung Pauh Lima, Mukim Banggu in Kota Bharu, from May 19 to June 1.

Meanwhile, the EMCO in Taman Tanah Putih Baru, Kuantan, Pahang will be extended for another seven days from May 19 to May 25 due to the influx of cases among the residents in the locality, and there are new cases and samples awaiting results.

Ismail Sabri also said that the EMCO at Rumah Panjang Dinggai, Sungai Amut Atas near Pakan, Sarikei in Sarawak will also be extended from May 20 to May 26 following the transmission of cases among residents in the locality, apart from more test samples awaiting results.

Meanwhile, the EMCOs imposed in Kampung Meripoh and Kota Bahagia in Muadzam Shah, near Rompin, Pahang, were declared to have ended today (May 17), earlier than scheduled.

On the Movement Control Order (MCO) standard operating procedure (SOP) compliance operations, a total of 569 individuals were detained for violating the MCO SOP yesterday, with 466 of them being compounded, while 103 others were remanded.

"Failure to record personal details before entering the premises is the most common offence recorded, involving 127 individuals, followed by not wearing a face mask (103), no physical distancing (65) and another 274 for other offences," he said.

-- BERNAMA