KOTA KINABALU: A total of 248 teams comprising 1,800 personnel from various agencies have been assigned to ensure compliance to the standard operating procedure (SOP) to contain the Covid-19 pandemic throughout the state, said Sabah police commissioner Datuk Hazani Ghazali.
He said among the agencies involved are the Malaysian Armed Forces, People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela), Health Ministry (MOH), Civil Defence Force, Immigration Department, and local authorities.
He said to date, more than 1,800 arrests have been made and 1,454 compounds issued against violators of SOP to curb Covid-19, among them for not wearing face mask, holding large gathering, and not practising physical distancing.
“We will not compromise in making arrests and issuing compounds against those who defy the SOP,” he told a media conference at Sabah police contingent headquarters here yesterday.
On Wednesday, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said there were 660 new Covid-19 cases reported with Sabah still having the highest cases involving 429 people.
Meanwhile, Hazani said police are investigating the dissemination of an offensive voice message on social media two days ago which accused Sabahans as the source of spreading Covid-19 in Johor following the Sabah state election recently.
He said the individual from Johor accused Sabah residents who returned to the state after voting in the election for spreading Covid-19 and therefore Hazani called the people not to be influenced by the voice message.
“The message is very crude which does not reflect our culture as Malaysians. No police reports have been made but we will still investigate,” he said. — Bernama