"Malaysia will deploy its army from Sunday to assist the police in enforcing a movement control order (MCO) aimed at stemming the coronavirus," the government said on Friday.
The Southeast Asian country is grappling with the highest number of infections as it reported 130 new infections on Friday, taking its total to 1,030, accounting for nearly 40% of the reported cases across Southeast Asia.
Since Wednesday, Malaysia has closed its borders, schools and non-essential businesses for two weeks.
Also, it has ordered people to limit going outside, warning of a “tsunami” of cases if the curbs are not followed, however, people continued to go to restaurants and parks.
Malaysian Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob stated in a news briefing that people could be arrested if they defy the curbs without good reason.
“We are confident with the army’s assistance, we would be better able to enforce this order.” he said.
It is worth mentioning that, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus a global pandemic on March 11 as the new virus has rapidly spread to more than 121,000 people from Asia to the Middle East, Europe, and the United States.
More cases of the virus, which causes respiratory disease Covid-19, continue to emerge, with outbreaks in South Korea, Italy, and Iran.
Italy recorded 368 more deaths from the coronavirus outbreak on Sunday, its biggest one day rise, amid growing concern about the ability of its strained health system to cope with the relentless increase in new cases.
Transmission of viruses between humans happens when someone comes into contact with an infected person’s secretions, such as droplets in a cough. They can also be transmitted by coming into contact with something an infected person has touched and then touching your mouth, nose or eyes.
It is known that older people appear to be more vulnerable to the effects of the emerging virus.
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