EMCO to be enforced in three areas in Sabah from Monday

KUALA LUMPUR: The government will enforce the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) in three residential colleges at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Kota Kinabalu; Kampung Pagalungan Ansip, Keningau and Kampung Kalindukan, Nabawan in Sabah, from tomorrow until April 18.

Senior Minister (Security cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that the EMCO was imposed following a risk assessment by various agencies of the Movement Control Order (MCO) Technical Committee, and on the advice of the the Ministry of Health (MOH).

He said that there was an outbreak of infection among students of the three residential colleges at the university, namely, Tun Mustapha residential college, Tun Fuad residential college and Tun Pengiran Ahmad Raffae residential college, with a high infectivity rate.

“To date, the MOH has conducted 133 screening tests and 19 COVID-19 positive cases were recorded in three of the residential colleges,” he said in a statement regarding the EMCO and Recovery MCO today.

Meanwhile, he said that 15 COVID-19 positive cases were recorded in Kampung Pagalungan Ansip, and eight detected in Kampung Kalindukan.

According to Ismail Sabri, the EMCO enforcement was to enable COVID-19 control measures to be carried out quickly and effectively, thus preventing it from spreading in the community.

He also said that the MCO in Keningau district, Sabah, which was scheduled to end today, would be extended until April 18 as there was still an increase in cases in the community, apart from several new clusters detected, with 148 cases recorded in the past 14 days.

“To date, the cumulative COVID-19 cases stand at 2,138 in the district, with the EMCO currently being enforced in several villages,” he said.

Ismail Sabri also announced that the EMCO in Taman Guru, Kuantan, Pahang, which was scheduled to end on April 9, was ending tomorrow as the remaining active cases in the locality were under control.

Meanwhile, he said that 248 individuals were detained for standard operating procedure (SOP) violations, with 228 being issued compounds, three being remanded and 17 released on bail.

Regarding border control measures, he said that 10 illegal immigrants were arrested under ‘Op Benteng’ yesterday, with a sea vessel and three land vehicles were seized.

-- BERNAMA