Take previous celebration as lesson
On Sunday (18 July), Ismail Sabri warned Malaysians to stay where they are and not sneak back to celebrate Hari Raya Aidiladha with their friends and familes at their hometowns, Malay Mail reported."The government advised the public not to sneak back to your kampung and to remain at home so as not to be infected and infect others," he was quoted as saying in a statement.
Ismail Sabri said the increase in cases and explosion of COVID-19 clusters that resulted from the previous Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations should serve as a lesson.
"The increase in cases as well as clusters due to interstate travel on Aidilfitri should be a lesson so that all parties do not take lightly in complying with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) in an effort to break the chain of COVID-19 infection," he added.
According to Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in a seperate report, the emergence of several new clusters in May stemmed from two major festivals — Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Hari Gawai.
During that period, the Ministry of Health recorded 17,106 new cases, 105 deaths and an outbreak of 267 community clusters from 1 June to 16 July.
"These community clusters have risen from past celebratory events (Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Hari Gawai), visiting activities in neighbourhoods or kampungs, meeting among families from different households as well as from funerals.
"Several other community clusters were also caused by interstate travel for activities as mentioned above," Dr Noor Hisham was quoted as saying.
Record cars turned back
Ismail Sabri further added that the authorities will not hesitate to take action against those who try to cross state borders without permission.Under the current movement control order (FMCO), interdisctrict and interstate travels are still banned.
On Saturday (17 July), PDRM reportedly inspected a total of 381,952 vehicles at roadblocks across the country.
The authorities also reportedly turned back 4,839 vehicles, the highest number of vehicles ordered to turn back since the implementation of the National Recovery Plan.