KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 3 — Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob does not agree that politicians who returned from Sabah are the cause of the "new wave” of Covid-19 infections in the peninsula.

The senior minister in charge of security during the virus pandemic also played down the infection rate of returnees from Sabah, saying only 1 per cent of 13,000 screened had been found positive for the coronavirus.

"Of the 132 positive cases, not all are politicians.

"This number took into account tourists and people who travelled there for work purposes,” he said during a press conference here today.

He said there was no need to panic after Health Ministry data showed a spike in the daily national infection rate for the last two days.

"If you look at Sabah, out of the 113 positive cases, 35 were arrests from Ops Benteng which meant that the local cases were less than 100.

"Similarly in Kedah, the majority of positive cases were isolated to those who are in prison.

"But although I said don’t panic, it doesn’t mean you should let your guard down,” he added.

Ismail Sabri reiterated that there is no need for the government to impose mandatory quarantine for those returning from Sabah as the state is still within the country compared to countries outside of Malaysia.

"With Sabah we can still trace their close contacts because it is a state in Malaysia.

"But with countries like Indonesia and the UK, because they are foreign, there is no way we can trace close contacts,” he added.

Ismail Sabri was addressing the public’s concern on politicians seemingly neglecting SOPs during the Sabah state election which concluded on September 26.

Yesterday, the Health Ministry reported 287 cases, the highest new Covid-19 infections in a single day. On Thursday, the figure was 260 cases.