Stern action awaits 255 people who defy second COVID-19 test order - Ismail Sabri

As such, he said those individuals are advised to go to the nearest district health office immediately to take the test as the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Royal Malaysia Police are monitoring and keeping track of their movement.

“The police will take action against them if they still refused to take the test, and they may face a compound of RM1,000 or two-year imprisonment,” he told a press conference on the latest development of the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) at the Parliament building here today.

Ismail Sabri said the government viewed seriously the failure of the individuals in complying with the standard operating procedure (SOP) to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country, just like in the incident reported in Melaka where the patient did not remain confined in a room during home quarantine and hence, infected the father.

Meanwhile, the minister said 17,689 Malaysians abroad had returned home via KL International Airport between June 10 and July 13.

“Of the total, 17,616 individuals have been ordered to undergo quarantine at home and 73 others were admitted to hospital.

“On July 13, a total of 536 Malaysians returned via KLIA and klia2 from Pakistan, Indonesia, Qatar, Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom, Vietnam, the Netherlands, India and China,” he said.

Ismail Sabri said Malaysians abroad who wish to return home are required to undergo COVID-19 test three days before their departure date to avoid being denied entry into the aircraft.

On another note, the minister said the meeting of the Special Ministerial Committee on the RMCO has agreed to disallow expatriates in Malaysia to leave the country for holiday purposes.

He said if caught disobeying the rules, they will not be allowed to return to Malaysia until further notice.