KUALA LUMPUR: As the number of Covid-19 cases continue to climb, with the latest at 869 yesterday, the number of people violating the standard operating procedures (SOP) remains in the hundreds.
At 661 on the 130th day of the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) yesterday, Senior Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said 632 were issued compounds for violating SOPs.
Failure to wear face masks in public topped the list of SOP offences, with 223 people falling foul of the regulations.
Ismail Sabri said the number of offenders has seen a surge as the authorities are clamping down on those who break the SOP.
Other offences include failure to provide registration facilities at premises (112 cases); failure to adhere to physical distancing (191); illegal operation of entertainment outlets (45) premises operating after permitted hours (75) and others (15).
"From the total 661 offenders, 632 were issued with compounds, 27 remanded and two were released on bail," said the minister in a press conference streamed live from his residence today.
He said the SOP compliance taskforce, comprising 11,659 personnel, conducted 44,410 inspection and checks nationwide. These, he said, included checks at 3,512 supermarkets, 4,380 restaurants, 1,196 factories and 1,678 wet markets.
Also inspected were 3,077 houses of worship including 1,263 recreational areas.
Ismail Sabri, who is also Senior Defence Minister, said Ops Benteng yesterday nabbed 72 undocumented immigrants.
He touched on efforts done to tighten control at the Sarawak border.
"Since the implementation of Ops Benteng in May this year, 497 illegal immigrants and 28 'tekong' were arrested throughout Sarawak.
"A total of 1,477 members of the security forces comprising 101 officers and 1,360 personnel have also been assigned to guard the state's borders from intrusion," he said.
Six operations, he said, have been carried out in Sarawak for this purpose, namely Ops Awas/Kerisparang, Ops Kerangka, Ops Suluh Kenyalang, Ops Jagakawan, Ops Awas/Batas and Ops Benteng.
Meanwhile, on the mandatory quarantine, he said a total of 50,254 individuals arrived in the country via flights from July 24 to Oct 17.
"They have been placed at 69 hotels and 15 other premises including public training institutes (ILA), public learning institutes in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Penang, Johor, Sarawak, Kelantan, Perak, Kedah, Perlis, Terengganu, Sabah and Labuan.
"From the total, 8,151 individuals are currently placed under mandatory quarantine. A total of 381 have been admitted to hospital while 41,722 individuals were discharged and allowed to return home."