KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 — Those looking to move during the second phase of the movement control order (MCO) will have to abide by the "one person per car” ruling beginning this Wednesday, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today.

"As we have previously mentioned, for private vehicles, although they are allowed to go out to get food and essential supplies, the government has decided it will be one person in one car,” he said during the daily non-health press conference that was broadcasted on television.

This is on top of the shortened operation hours from 8am to 8pm daily for eateries, markets, and petrol stations that comes into effect on April 1.

Ismail Sabri said 1,520 roadblocks held by police at locations throughout the country checked a total of 257,287 vehicles that were on the road, adding that 828 arrests have been made by police nationwide against those defying the MCO.

"We see the number of arrests increasing, which means police are taking sterner action than they were before.

"Our target is not to add on to the arrests, our target is to reduce the arrests; the more arrests there are each day mans there are many from the rakyat who are still not following the instructions,” he said.

He added that the number of roadblocks at toll plazas, now at 65, will be increased to a total of 114 checks to cover all toll plazas nation-wide, adding how a total of 67,774 police and armed forces personnel were deployed as of Sunday.

Malaysia is in its 13th day of the MCO that was originally supposed end on April 1, but has since been extended to April 14 in what has been called the second phase of the MCO.