PETALING JAYA: An estimated 200,000 people ignored interstate travel restrictions and bypassed police roadblocks during Hari Raya Aidilfitri, says Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
The Senior Minister (Security) said that although travel restrictions were imposed, some people still travelled back to their hometowns, causing a spike in Hari Raya clusters and deaths within families.
"We can lie to the police but we can't lie to Covid-19, which is everywhere.
"Many people were angry that they could not travel for Hari Raya and we were informed that 200,000 people managed to go through police roadblocks.
"As a result, after Hari Raya, there were many clusters and also cases of deaths," he said in a joint press conference with Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah on Sunday (May 30).
He said Malaysia would be logging 13,000 or 15,000 Covid-19 cases daily if the government had allowed interstate travel for Hari Raya, he said.
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