The public has been urged to remain in compliance with the Movement Control Order (MCO) by not giving the declining cases of COVID-19 as an excuse for coming out from homes.

Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob stressed that as long as the MCO was still in force and not terminated, all standard operating procedures (SOPs) must be adhered to.

"Yesterday when the Director-General of Health (Datuk Dr Noor Hisham) announced there were only 36 new cases of COVID-19 positive and no deaths, many began to feel that all restrictions should be relaxed.

"I hope that as long as the MCO is not terminated while no new SOPs are introduced by the government, the current MCO and SOP remains," he told a daily press conference here today.

Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri said 946 people had been detained yesterday for violating the directives of the MCO.

Of the total, he said, 433 individuals were arrested in the red zone area.

"The Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) along with the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) have conducted 824 roadblocks nationwide and inspected 603,314 vehicles.

"A total of 53,380 surprise inspections were also been conducted nationwide with 6,127 premises checked.

"A total of 101 individuals were indicted in court for violating the MCO. The total number of cumulative arrests under the MCO so far is 16,870 individuals," he added.