‘Cross-border travel ban has helped’

Current numbers: Dr Adham showing a report on Covid-19 clusters in Malaysia during a press conference at the Health Ministry. — Bernama

PUTRAJAYA: The ban on cross-border travel under the movement control order has helped keep Covid-19 numbers down, says Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba.

The Health Minister said there were no new cases recorded on Tuesday from the 31 clusters caused by individuals spreading the infection from other states.

Combined with the decline in the number of new Covid-19 cases in the country, Dr Adham said the figures were “a great development” for the country’s efforts in battling the pandemic.

“On Tuesday, the country recorded no new cases from clusters linked to interstate travel. “Since Dec 7, the ministry has uncovered 31 infection clusters originating from people travelling between states.

“A total of 4,376 positive cases were found in eight states, involving people who travelled from Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang, Johor, Melaka and Sabah.

“This is a great development as it reflects the effectiveness of the strict enforcement imposed throughout the MCO.

“This development also shows that the level of awareness among the people has increased.

“It also demonstrates the effectiveness of compliance with border crossing restrictions.

“At the same time, it shows the people’s adherence to the new norms that the ministry has stressed repeatedly.

“By protecting ourselves and others from Covid-19, we have been able to reduce the number of new infections, ” Dr Adham said in a statement.

Interstate and inter-district travel was allowed on Dec 7 when the government decided to relax the rules of the conditional MCO that was in place at that time.

However, the number of Covid-19 cases had risen to its recorded highest levels and the government decided to impose the second MCO, dubbed MCO 2.0, in several states on Jan 13.

Cross-border travel was banned once again. The rest of the country except the state of Sarawak followed suit and implemented MCO 2.0 on Jan 19.

Dr Adham said the Malaysian public, regardless of who they are, must continue complying with the MCO and practising new Covid-19 norms.

“Together with the future vaccination plan, we will all head towards our goal of ending this deadly virus pandemic.

“We will all be safer and, God willing, the country will prosper again, ” he said.