Police to hunt 2,897 people under home quarantine who refused second COVID-19 test

Starting this Monday, the police will be taking actions to find and charge the 2,897 individuals who have not come forward for their second Covid-19 screening on their 13th day of home quarantine.

In his press statement on Covid-19 operations, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob instructed these recalcitrant individuals to contact the nearest District Health Office for their second screening.

“Starting next Monday, the police will take actions to arrest and charge in court 2,897 individuals who have not completed their second Covid-19 screening on the 13th day of being home quarantined.

“These individuals are instructed to contact their nearest District Health Office to complete their second screening,” said the defence minister.

The government has also made the decision to quarantine Malaysians and other foreign nationals returning to the country in quarantine centres for 14 days starting yesterday after many individuals refused to observe the Covid-19 home quarantine standard operating procedures (SOP).

Those entering the quarantine centres will fully bear the lodging cost as well as for screening tests.

“The decision to reopen the quarantine centres for the 14-day mandatory quarantine was taken after we considered the rise in imported cases and the disregard to observe the SOP, resulting in increasing Covid-19 infections,” said Ismail.

Yesterday, 319 individuals returning to Malaysia had been placed at four quarantine centres in Kuala Lumpur, Negri Sembilan and Johor. These travellers came from Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Brunei, Qatar, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, India, the UAE, China and Australia.

However, there are still 9,600 individuals undergoing home quarantine at the moment.

The police had also arrested 330 individuals yesterday for breaching the recovery movement control order (RMCO) SOP. Out of those arrested, 23 individuals were held under remanded custody and three were bailed.

The remaining 304 individuals were given a compound and all involved attended activities involving large crowds where it was difficult to observe social distancing.

Similarly, the police had also arrested 11 foreign nationals for immigration offense after conducting 65 roadblocks and inspecting 34,967 vehicles. —  Malay Mail

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