Ismail Sabri: Allowing interstate travel depends on Health Ministry's risk assessment

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): The decision to allow movement across states would depend on whether the daily Covid-19 cases fall to two digits subject to the risk assessment carried out by the Health Ministry (MOH), says Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said MOH would then table the proposal to the Technical Committee and National Security Council Special Meeting chaired by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin before a decision is made.

"If the cases fall to two digits, for sure MOH would advise...the new proposal to allow interstate travel or otherwise would be tabled by MOH.

"We will wait for the decision and pray cases would continue to drop to two digits as mentioned by Health director-general (Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah)," he told a media conference on the movement control order (MCO) here Tuesday (March 2).

He was replying to a question on when would interstate state travel be allowed if the daily Covid-19 cases falls to below two digits.

Earlier, Dr Noor Hisham was reported as saying that MOH was expecting the daily Covid-19 cases to fall to two digits in May.

At the media conference, Ismail Sabri announced that inter-district travel is allowed for all states except Sabah starting March 5, however, interstate travel is still not allowed.

Asked whether the act of inciting the public to reject the Covid-19 vaccination was an offence, Ismail Sabri said the action was a violation under the Emergency Ordinance and could be considered sabotage with the intention of intimidating the public.

"Yesterday the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) made a statement, the Inspector-General of Police, Deputy Inspector-General of Police had said in statements that it is an offence and action can be taken.

"So, through the amended Emergency Ordinance, immediate action can be taken against the fake news source," he said.

Earlier, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador was reported to have said that any individual who incited or spread false news to the public not to take the Covid-19 vaccine could be prosecuted under the Sedition Act. - Bernama