MALAYSIANS are urged not to undertake interstate travel to avoid more Covid-19 clusters, said Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

“A total of 971 cases (14.1%) of all the 6,894 Covid-19 positive cases had a history of interstate travel,” the health director-general told his daily Covid-19 briefing in Putrajaya today.

“Eighteen out of 49 clusters recorded in Malaysia also have a pattern of interstate travel. Ten of these clusters are still active,” he said.

He said close contacts of Covid-19 positive cases trying to move between states was worrying. 

“We have to be careful during the festive season, which could be the start of more clusters forming in green zones.”

Earlier, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had said there was an increase in the number of vehicles attempting to cross state borders yesterday.

On May 15, the police recorded 508 vehicles trying to cross state lines, with the excuse of going back to their home towns.

The number of vehicles attempting the same yesterday was 1,248, Ismail Sabri had said.

As of noon today, 22 new Covid-19 cases were detected, bringing the accumulated total to 6,894. Active cases stand at 1,210.

Of the 22 new cases, five were imported cases while nine out of the 17 local cases involved foreigners.

Thirteen patients are still being treated in ICUs while another seven needed the aid of ventilators. With no deaths reported today, the total number of fatalities remains at 113. – May 17, 2020.