KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 — Despite there only being two Covid-19 red zones registered as of noon today, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has once again stressed the risks posed by those looking to travel back to their hometowns for the upcoming Hari Raya Aidilfitri holidays.

Dr Noor Hisham was responding to queries by reporters, during his daily Covid-19 briefing, on how the public can find out existing Covid-19 red zones to avoid travelling to those areas during the upcoming holidays.

In response, Dr Noor Hisham explained the only two remaining red zones are currently in the Pedas district in Rembau, Negri Sembilan, and the other in Pudu within the capital.

An area is classified as a red zone when it has 41 or more active infections, while an area that registers one to 40 infections is known as a yellow zone, with a green zone is one with zero active cases.

However, the director-general said that, more importantly, interstate travel, which has been banned, should be avoided to further curb the spread of the virus to vulnerable groups, particularly senior citizens and young children, in their respective hometowns.

"That (interstate travel ban) has been implemented to reduce the exodus of Malaysians going back to their hometowns.

"I think this is important because the fear of the Health Ministry is that the virus can be actually brought back to the hometowns, and there has been one example already from Ampang to Kuala Krai,” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham was referring to a case the ministry confirmed on Wednesday, where a 35-week pregnant woman was found to be Covid-19 positive after undergoing a routine checkup at a women and children’s health clinic in Kuala Krai, Kelantan.

The mother-to-be had returned to her hometown on May 7 when the interstate travel ban was lifted temporarily, with the intention of giving birth there after travelling from her home in Ampang.

"So, with that incident, we have been monitoring the situation and trying to make sure that we can reduce the impact of the virus outbreak after Hari Raya, that’s our intention,” he added.