KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 — The government will implement the enhanced movement control order (EMCO) in five areas in the Pekan district in Pahang from tomorrow until April 22.

Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the areas were related to the Teknologi Peramu Jaya Cluster involving factory workers staying in Taman Mentiga Jaya, Taman Perdana, Perkampungan Peramu Jaya 3, Taman Sepekan Makmur and Kampung Pulau Serai.

He said the implementation of the EMCO was done after the joint assessment evaluation by various agencies in the movement control order (MCO) technical committee as well as on the advice of the Ministry of Health (MOH), which confirmed the spread of the Covid-19 infection in the localities, with a high rate of infectivity.

"So far, the MOH has carried out 495 screening tests and, of the total, 67 positive cases were recorded from this cluster,” he said in a statement on conditional MCO and recovery MCO today.

Ismail Sabri said the EMCO was to ensure the movement of residents in these localities could be controlled so as to prevent the virus from spreading to other communities.

Meanwhile, he said 64 individuals were detained for flouting the standard operating procedure (SOP) yesterday, with 59 of them compounded and five remanded.

As for the country’s borders, he said 37 illegal immigrants were arrested under Op Benteng yesterday while six land vehicles were seized.

He also said that 1,306 foreigners underwent Covid-19 screening yesterday, with 37 of them testing positive.

Ismail Sabri said that a total of 677,690 foreign workers, involving 35,066 employers, have undergone Covid-19 screening and, of the total, 10,199 tested positive. — Bernama