All districts in Selangor except Sabak Bernam will be under EMCO due to the high Covid-19 infection rate, more than 12.1 per 100,000 residents

by S BIRRUNTHA / pic by HUSSEIN SHAHARUDDIN

A LARGE part of Selangor and 15 localities in Kuala Lumpur (KL) will be under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) from tomorrow until July 16.

Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said all districts in Selangor except Sabak Bernam will be under EMCO due to the high Covid-19 infection rate, more than 12.1 per 100,000 residents.

“Selangor reports an average daily cases of between 1,800 and 1,900, while KL reports around 600 to 1,000 cases.

“The rate of infection (R-naught) values in both states are still in the 1.0 range and not showing signs of decline,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Ismail Sabri said this is worrisome when taking into account the population density and the contagion of three more new variants, namely Beta (South Africa), Delta (India) and Alpha (the UK).

The EMCO in Selangor will be for the Petaling district (Petaling, Damansara, Sg Buloh, Bukit Raja); Hulu Langat (Hulu Langat, Ampang, Cheras, Kajang, Semenyih, Beranang); Sepang (Dengkil, Labu, Sepang); Gombak (Batu, Rawang, Setapak, Hulu Kelang, Kuang); Kuala Langat (Tanjung 12(1), Tanjung 12(2), Teluk Panglima Garang, Morib, Bandar, Jugra, Batu); Klang (Kapar, Klang); Kuala Selangor (Ijok, Bestari Jaya, Jeram); and Hulu Selangor (Serendah, Rasa, Ulu Yam, Batang Kali).

For KL, it will be at Projek Perumahan Rakyat (PPR) Sri Semarak; PPR Batu Muda; Flat Seksyen 2 Wangsa Maju; Flat Seksyen 1 Wangsa Maju; Kampung Padang Balang; Taman Koperasi Polis (Phase 1 and 2); Flat Sri Sabah; Kampung Puah; PPR Kampung Baru Air Panas; Flat Desa Pandan (Baiduri and Delima); Kampung Batu Muda; PPR Kerinchi; Bandar Baru Sentul; and Taman Ikan Emas.

All EMCO area routes will be closed and controlled by the police, while there will be an 8pm curfew for residents.

Throughout the EMCO, only one person per household can go out to purchase basic necessities within a 10km radius. However, travel for vaccination is allowed.

Targeted screening will also be carried out for all residents.

Airports and ports can operate as usual, while public transportation can run at 50% capacity. For taxi and e-hailing vehicles, only one passenger is allowed.

Meanwhile, essential services are allowed to operate from 8am to 8pm.

Only factories producing food items and basic daily necessities will be allowed to operate, while employees in the essential services must have a permission letter or employee pass to travel for work.

Petrol stations are allowed to operate between 6am and 8pm, except those on highways up to 24 hours, while wholesale markets can open from 12am to 6am.

For hospitals, clinics, medical laboratories, pharmacies, pet shops and veterinary clinics, opening hours are from 8am to 8pm.

Meanwhile, any form of sports, social, recreational and cultural activities are prohibited.

Separately, district police chiefs (OCPDs) will be leading a major nationwide operation dubbed Op Patuh from today to check on standard operating procedures (SOPs) compliance at workplaces and business premises.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said the OCPDs would act as ground commanders to coordinate the operation, which will be conducted jointly with other enforcement agencies.

“The OCPDs will have their own media platforms to give live reports, for the whole country to see,” he said at a press conference yesterday.

Hamzah said to ensure the effectiveness of Op Patuh in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, the Covid-19 Movement Control Order SOP Compliance and Enforcement Coordination Committee (JKPS) had sought the cooperation of the Selangor government and Kuala Lumpur City Hall to obtain maps of industrial areas and workers’ accommodations which pose a high risk for the spread of Covid-19.

“Firm action without any compromise will be taken against violators of the SOPs and other government directives under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) and other existing acts,” he added.

Employers breaching the SOPs of Phase One of the National Recovery Plan would also face stern action.

“Some workers told us that although their colleagues had contracted Covid-19, others were not quarantined.

“We have gathered all this information and will arrest the employers,” he said.

Op Patuh is an integrated operation involving tighter checks, monitoring and the deployment of strategic assets such as helicopters and drones belonging to the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and Fire and Rescue Department.

“With helicopters and drones, we can have a comprehensive view of the area,” he said.

PDRM would take charge of the operation in the manufacturing sector, while local authorities would lead the enforcement on restaurants and food outlets, and the Domestic

Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry would head the operation at business premises, distribution and retail outlets.

On Op Patuh from June 25 to 30, Hamzah said almost 126,207 premises like factories, workers’ hostels and business establishments were inspected.

From that, 602 compounds were issued with 60 premises ordered to shut.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health reported 6,988 new Covid-19 cases and 84 new deaths in the country yesterday.

Selangor recorded the most cases with 2,885, followed by KL (988) and Negri Sembilan (692).

Sarawak recorded a total of 544 cases, followed by Melaka (311), Johor (270), Kedah (250), Sabah (232), Pahang (195), Penang (174), Perak (149), Labuan (129), Kelantan (108), Terengganu (50), Putrajaya (10) and Perlis (1).

This brought the current active cases in the country to 65,453 and the total confirmed cases to 758,967.

Twenty-one 21 new clusters were also identified, where 11 were workplace clusters, nine community clusters and one a high-risk group cluster.

Yesterday, 917 patients were in the intensive care unit, with 445 requiring ventilators, while 5,580 patients have recovered.