THE government has identified 24 Covid-19 clusters from the Hari Raya holidays with 850 new infections, said Ismail Sabri Yaakob. 

“More worrying is that most of the cases are asymptomatic,” the senior minister said in a statement today.

Of the total cases, 699 were asymptomatic while 151 had symptoms. 

The most number of Raya cases (224) came from Tumpat, Kelantan, he added.

“This is followed by the Simpang Sahari cluster in Labuan which had 123 cases.”

The defence minister said although the government had barred inter-state and inter-district travel during the Raya holidays, there were still many who ignored the standard operating procedures (SOP).

The SOP had also limited the number of people in a house for Raya visits and completely banned gatherings such as open houses and banquets.

The high number of daily cases in the past week and the country’s new daily record of 8,290 infections and over 72,000 active cases today come two weeks after Hari Raya, which fell on May 13 and 14. The incubation period of Covid-19 can be as long as 14 days.

More areas under EMCO

Meanwhile, the government has placed more areas in Terengganu, Pahang, Johor, Selangor and Sabah under enhanced movement control orders (EMCO).

The areas are 21 Mukim in Kuala Terengganu, Felda Jengka 24 in Jerantut, Kg Baru Melayu in Bentong in Pahang, Taman Sinar Harapan Tampoi in Johor Bahru, Taman Pertama and Taman Serendah in Sabak Bernam, Selangor and 3 localities in Tawau, Sabah

All the areas will be under EMCO from May 30 till June 12.

Among the areas, Ismail said the 21 Mukim in Terengganu saw drastic increase of new Covid-19 infections.

“During the month of May, the Health Ministry recorded 349 new cases or 370% increase in two weeks in all the 21 Mukim,” said Ismail.

The government has also decided to extend the EMCO restrictions on two areas in Malacca and Sabah.

According to Ismail, Kg Lubok Redan in Alor Gajah, Malacca, and Lorong 2, Kg Kongsi 8 in Tawau, Sabah, will have to EMCO extended till June 12. – May 28, 2021.