Phase three of the Movement Control Order (MCO) begins today, seeking the commitment of every citizen to help break the chain of the COVID-19 infection in the country.

It has been 29 days since enforcement of MCO last March 18 and the people should remain strong and be more disciplined to go through the third phase, more so with Ramadan to begin next week and the need for them to adapt to "the new normal" with not being able to go to the bazaar and perform the tarawih prayer at the mosque,

Certainly, everyone wants to be "free" and return to the norms of a normal life as soon as possible, but if there are people who are still stubborn and refuse to comply with MCO, we may have to go through several more phases of MCO.

To ensure a higher level of public compliance with MCO, the government has decided that from today, those who are caught defying the order will be straight away detained for legal action and no longer issued compound as was done during the first and second phase.

Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that under Section 24 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342), the court could impose a jail sentence for up to two years and for subsequent offence jail of up to five years.

According to Ismail Sabri, the cumulative number of people detained for defying MCO as of last Monday was 9,090.

Meanwhile, on the number of COVID-19 positive cases in the country, it was 4,987 as of noon yesterday, with 82 deaths.

However, Malaysia has recorded good progress in its fight against COVID-19, with 2,478 patients having fully recovered and discharged from hospitals, or 49.7 per cent of the cumulative total of positive cases.

-- BERNAMA