KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 — The government is considering stricter measures at locations listed as Covid-19 high-risk areas or red zones, said Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He said agencies in the National Security Council (NSC), namely the Health Ministry, Royal Malaysia Police and the Malaysian Armed Forces, will decide if such precautions are needed.
He was asked to say if the government was looking at a full lockdown of areas identified as red-zones.
“We will come out with a standard operating procedure that is more detailed concerning areas of high risk, or red-zones,” he said during the daily non-health press conference broadcasted on television this afternoon.
Ismail explained that such drastic actions cannot be enforced over large areas, as mentioned by the Health Ministry.
He said Gombak, which has been identified as a high-risk area, has many districts within it.
“There are many things that we need detailed further, for example the Health Ministry said Gombak (as a red-zone).
“But where in Gombak? Gombak is big; the MP of Gombak said it includes the areas of Selayang and Ulu Langat, so it's a big area.
“And so we are trying to identify areas that should be focused on for further action that might be taken,” he said.
Malaysia is in its seventh day of a two-week movement control order enforced by the government to mitigate and break the chain of infection of Covid-19.
The country recorded its 15th death due to Covid-19 earlier today, with 1,518 positive cases and 159 recovered patients as of 5pm yesterday.
