Suspected violations of the coronavirus lockdown in Malaysia resulted in 1,111 arrests in one day, according to government figures. Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced today that a third of these affected people who tried to cross the borders between the 13 states yesterday. Many were taken into custody for violating rules to maintain physical distance or wearing face masks.
The number of daily arrests for coronavirus violations is usually in the three-digit range. Most of those affected are usually released after paying a fine.
Lockdown in much of the country
After a significant increase in the number of cases since December, the government of the Southeast Asian country imposed a lockdown in January. At the beginning of February this was extended by two weeks and currently applies to large parts of the country except for the state of Sarawak on Borneo.
The residents have to work from home as much as possible and are only allowed to move within a radius of ten kilometers from their apartments. Crossing state borders is prohibited.
Today the Ministry of Health reported the lowest daily value since the beginning of January with almost 2,200 new infections. In the country with its almost 32 million inhabitants, a total of more than 266,000 people have been infected so far, 975 have died in connection with the virus.
