KUALA LUMPUR: Seven districts in Kelantan will be placed under the Movement Control Order (MCO) from April 16 to 29, said Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The districts involved are Kota Bharu, Pasir Mas, Pasir Puteh, Bachok, Machang, Tumpat and Tanah Merah.

"The Health Ministry (MOH) confirmed a 30.5 per cent spike in cases in the state over a period of 14 days, from 756 cases to 1,088 cases. All seven districts are in the red zone.

"In addition, there are also nine new clusters recorded in the past 14 days with a high infectivity rate within the community," he said in a statement regarding the Conditional MCO (CMCO) and Recovery MCO (RMCO) today.

He said that the enforcement of the MCO is to control the movement of residents in the localities and to avoid the spread of COVID-19 infections to other areas.

"Roadblocks will be mounted at all district and state borders. All economic and business sectors approved by agencies and ministries will be allowed to operate during the MCO period. The implementation of the MCO of these districts will be in accordance with the general MCO standard operating procedure (SOP) that was updated on Feb 26, 2021," he said.

Meanwhile, the Enchanced MCO (EMCO) will be enforced at Kampung Tanjung Batu Keramat, Kota Belud in Sabah and three localities in Muadzam Shah, Pahang, namely Ladang Leepang, Ladang Laukin and Kampung Inoi, beginning tomorrow until April 28, he said.

"The implementation of the EMCO is to enable the MOH to conduct early detection of suspected COVID-19 cases, and to ensure close contacts can be isolated as soon as possible to stem the spread of infection from risk areas to other areas," he said, adding that the EMCO in Kampung Juara, Pulau Tioman, Rompin, Pahang will end tomorrow - earlier than the scheduled April 20.

Ismail Sabri also said that a total of 42 individuals were detained for violating the CMCO and RMCO SOP yesterday, with 35 being issued compounds and seven remanded.

"The violations include failing to record personal details (20), not wearing face masks (eight), entertainment activities (seven) and other violations (seven)," he said.

Touching on border controls, he said five illegal immigrants were arrested and five land vehicles were seized under 'Op Benteng' yesterday.

-- BERNAMA