Possible TEMCO for Sabah to be announced today

PUTRAJAYA: An announcement on the possible enforcement of a Targeted Enhanced Movement Control Order (TEMCO) for Sabah is expected to be made today.

This was affirmed by Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah when asked by reporters if Sabah’s spiralling Covid-19 cases warrant an MCO for the state.

“Let’s wait (for this evening) on our next course of action,” he said after launching the 7th Malaysia Breast Nurse Care Meeting 2020 at the National Cancer Institute here.

Dr Noor Hisham also revealed that technically, a TEMCO was already in place in Sabah, although its implementation was never officially announced.

He said that TEMCO-like measures were already enforced in the state, such as tight border controls, the setting up of 98 roadblocks, and public health activities.

“If we did (characterise our measures as part of a ‘TEMCO’) then it would be as if we were not allowing voters to go out to vote. We did not want to be blamed for it.

“Since the election has ended, perhaps now we can use the ‘TEMCO’ term,” he added.

Yesterday, 150 new Covid-19 cases were reported nationwide – a record 124 of which were in Sabah.

Two new clusters were also identified in the state – the Buang Sayang cluster in Sipitang and the Kampung Sakong cluster in Semporna.

Other cases in Sabah are linked to the Benteng LD cluster (58 identified, including three foreigners); Bangau-Bangau (20, including eight foreigners); Bakau (13, including nine foreigners); Pulau (10, including one foreigner); and Kg Sakong (eight foreigners), among others.

Source: NST