PUTRAJAYA: The government is still maintaining its policy of not allowing foreigners to enter the country at this time, said Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He said at this time the permission to enter the country through the country’s entry gates was open only to Malaysians.
“The citizens of Malaysia can be brought in and they will be quarantined for 14 days first,” he told a press conference on the MCO here today.
He was commenting on a report on AirAsia Indonesia planning to restart flights from Surabaya to Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru on May 18.
According to Ismail Sabri, he also contacted AirAsia and was informed that this was not true.
At the same time, he said renovation and carpentry works involving consumer needs were allowed.
“There is some confusion in the standard operating procedure that says only tenants are allowed to renovate, but in fact homeowners are allowed too,” he said.
Ismail Sabri said any repair and installation involving consumer utilities including water, electricity, plumbing and drainage, as well as the internet were allowed.
Asked about the government’s move to control the increasing number of red zones, he said the authorities had been monitoring Covid-19 cases based on locality and clusters.
Ismail Sabri said that before an area was declared an area of enhanced movement control order (EMCO), the government would implement the MCO administratively by monitoring the progress of cases in the area.
“As in Chow Kit, for example, we monitor and if cases go up further, we will implement the EMCO in the area. Also, for example, we have just identified a cluster of foreign workers, so we are focusing on the workers who are infected and their contacts,” he said. – Bernama